Fairies of the Shattered Moon
by TheMaster4444
Summary: When Team RWBY discover a mysterious book right before the Vytal Festival, they are blasted to a place of magic and wonder. A few days later, they return, having spent six months as Fairy Tail wizards, forging bonds that would stay with them for the rest of their lives. But answers still allude the young huntresses. Who sent the book? And what link does it have with Fairy Tail?
1. Chapter 1

**Hello there! I got some free time from my other stories, so I threw together the first chapter of the idea that was at the top of my poll, which at the time was RWBY Fairies.**

 **If you wish to support me, please check out my P a treon for future chapter summaries, story ideas and more: p a Treon.(c om) (backslash) themaster4444**

* * *

"Ah! What a day!"

Ruby Rose slammed open the door to her team's dorm. The sight of a pair of tenuously built but oh so welcoming bunk beds greeted her as she stumbled into room. "Why do we have to help put up stands for the Vytal Festival? We're huntresses! Not… stand… putter-uppers…"

The rest of Team RWBY filed in after her, their shoulders just as sagged and their eyes just as droopy. The normally jubilant girls shambled in like a hoard of zombies. Even Weiss' perfect posture was tarnished and ragged.

"Beats me, sis," Yang remarked. "I thought they paid people to do that kind of stuff. I mean, why else would anyone do it?"

"Stop complaining," Weiss scolded, though her words lacked their usual bite. "Huntresses are servants of the people. A little community service now and again is expected."

"Oh yeah, then how come it wasn't 'expected' from the other academies' students?" Ruby asked as she used her semblance to jet into her precariously hanging bed.

"They're guests here," Blake explained, slumping onto her mattress. "It's customary for the hosting kingdom's students to assist in setting up at least some of the fairgrounds."

Yang climbed up to her bunk, her flowing golden locks matted with sweat in complete contrast to their usual immaculately maintained state. She lowered her head towards her partner and managed to get enough energy to suggestively wiggle her eyebrows. "Is it customary for a certain monkey boy from Haven to help out anyway? Or at least, help _someone_ out?"

"He just wanted to… oh, forget it. I'm tired enough to let you have that."

"Hehe… at least today wasn't a total waste then."

"Yes, lovely," Weiss deadpanned. She plopped down on her bed in a remarkably unladylike manner, Myrtenaster sticking out of her still down belt. She scowled at the still present weapons on all the girls' persons, the group having forgotten to drop them off in their lockers. However, instead of exploding, the Ice Queen took a deep breath and crashed into her pillow, too exhausted to care. "Now then, we should only take a short nap before dinner so as to not throw off our sleep schedule. With the tournament coming up we can't afford any slips."

"Yeah, sure, Weiss," Ruby yawned, her head steadily falling back. "Short nap. Up in time for dinner. Or… you know… maybe a few hours… more… OW!"

"What? I'm awake! I'm awake!" Yang shouted.

Weiss groaned. "Ruby, what is it?"

Ruby rubbed the back of her head. She twisted her body around to see what had replaced her soft, fluffy pillow. Her eyebrows shot up in confusion.

"Blake, I told you I didn't want to borrow any of your smut."

"You gave her what?!" Yang roared, now very much awake.

"Nothing! I gave her nothing" Blake replied instantly, her drowsiness a thing of the past. She whirled on her team leader. "Ruby, I didn't give you anything."

"Then what the heck is this thing?" Ruby held up the rather thick, and hard, tome her head had landed on.

Blake's head twitched to the side. "That's not one of mine."

" _Fairies of the Shattered Moon. By Sitara Astra Lumos Estrella Malina_ " Ruby read off. "Are you sure? That sure sounds like some ridiculous porn alias."

"I'm surprised you know what an alias is," Weiss remarked, pushing herself up to a sitting position.

"I'm telling you, it's not one of mine" Blake protested, mostly towards a newly red-eyed Yang. "Is there anything else on the cover? A summary on the back maybe?"

Ruby glanced all over the black leather-bound tome. Aside from the title and the author, there were no other words on the cover. Although…

"There's this weird emblem on the back" Ruby noted. "There's some creepy eye thing with a star above it and a pair of crossed… hammers, I think, below it. Does that ring a bell for any of you guys?"

Weiss hummed in thought, a dissatisfied frown etched on her face. "No. I've memorized hundreds of emblems and crests but that one is new."

"That's not too surprising" Blake pointed out. "Almost every huntsman that goes through the academies makes an emblem for themselves. Add that to the dozens that exist for other organizations and it's impossible to keep track of every single one."

"But that still doesn't help us figure out what this thing is. Or how it got onto Ruby's bed when our room's been locked all day" the heiress retorted.

"Well, there's one way to get a clue. Open it up, Ruby" Yang suggested. Her eyes narrowed at Blake shortly after. "But if you see anything… indecent, you should pass it to me immediately."

Ruby nodded. She gazed down at the dark cover, the musty looking leather ominously staring back at her. Possibilities swarmed her mind. In a bunch of the fairy tales Yang had read her when they were little, the hero would receive some sort of ancient tome at the beginning of their quest. Sometimes it contained multitudes of mystical spells. Or sometimes it led them to an old wizard master who would use their sagely wisdom and infinite patience to teach the young heroes the ways of the universe.

The red hooded girl's exhaustion was forgotten. Who cared about being tired? Her team was about to be summoned on a magical quest!

Reverently, she opened the first page.

Her shoulders sagged.

"What's it say?" Weiss inquired eagerly.

"Is it smut?"

"For the last time Yang—"

"It's blank" Ruby revealed, disappointment evident in her voice. "Who would go through all the trouble to put such a fancy cover around a blank—"

Suddenly, Ruby's eyes lit up silver, the edges of her vision swarmed with an ethereal white glow.

"Woah!" Yang exclaimed. "Ruby, what the hell are you doing?"

"I don't know! I don't know what's happening—Wait a minute."

"What?" Blake asked, her back pressed against the foot of her bed.

"Words. They're words appearing on the page! It's like they're writing themselves!" Ruby declared.

Just as she said, lines of elegant black cursive materialized in the book, the ink appearing without a pen to write it.

" _A world without fairies. A sky with no stars. An eternal adventure, eternally scarred._ Well, that just sounds depressing—EHH!"

Ruby's mind shrieked, waves of agony tearing through her brain. Her head felt like it was being torn in half as the silver light from her eyes shot into the book. The ghostly glow soaked the pages in blazing white energy, the power slowly transforming into a swarm of black smoke speckled with flecks of gold.

Team RWBY jumped into action. The three girls launched themselves onto their leader's bed, each grabbing onto Ruby's hands, desperately attempting to tear her from the smoke.

"Get it off her!" Yang yelled.

"We're trying! It's not working" Blake shouted.

"Ruby!" Weiss screeched defiantly.

The trio struggled to pry Ruby's grip from the cover, but whatever dark power swirled around the tome latched the young huntress' fingers tight.

Suddenly, the black energy lashed out. It spread across all four girls' bodies like wildfire, dark flames coating every inch of their flesh. Their bodies became heavy and their auras strained to keep them from being torn apart, gravity itself pulling them towards the mystical book like a horrendous whirlpool.

Yang's hair ignited. Weiss summoned black gravity glyphs beneath the team's feet. Valiantly, they struggled against the overwhelming pull of the book. Team RWBY were strong, the strongest in their year. They held out admirably.

But they could not hold out forever.

Their auras shattered to nothingness and the sinister black energy sucked them into the pages. The book bounced off the mattress and plummeted to the floor with a solid _thud._

And just like that, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao-Long disappeared.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

 _Erza Scarlet sighed in contentment as she overlooked her guildmates, their wild party in full swing._

 _Granted, it was Fairy Tail, so a wild party was hardly a rare sight, even if it was the seventh one in as many days. Still, she could hardly reprimand them for their revelry. Between winning the Grand Magic Games, reclaiming their rightful place as the number one guild in Fiore, and stopping a time traveling madman from conquering the world with a squadron of also time traveling dragons, they'd more than earned a little rest and relaxation. Besides, Master Makarov was in the thick of the celebration and he would surely be able to keep anything awful from happening._

" _Woohoo! I'm the King of Alcohol!"_

…

 _Well, anything worse than mild vandalism._

 _Erza fondly shook her head, a bite of cool, fluffy strawberry shortcake blissfully entering her mouth. Between Mirajane serving drinks as Cana made a point of challenging Master Makarov's brash claim, Alzack and Bisca watching over their young daughter Asuka, and Jet and Droy fawning over Levy while she argued with a stoic Gajeel with Pantherlily calmly observing, it felt like everything was once more right in the world. They had the guild hall back, they had their family back. It was almost as if their missing seven years never happened._

 _Though, one thing was strangely absent…_

" _Erza! Fight me!"_

 _Ah, there it was._

" _Natsu, she's eating. You should know better than to interrupt Erza when she's eating strawberry cake."_

" _Yeah, seriously flame-brain, use your head for once."_

" _You want me to use your head for a bowling ball, snowman?!"_

" _Just try it, Fire Breath!"_

" _Let's go, Ice Princess!"_

" _Aye sir! You can take him, Natsu!"_

" _I have faith you will prevail, my darling Gray!"_

" _Please don't fight, you two."_

" _Wendy's right, we just got the guild hall back. You two can't wreck it already."_

 _Erza sighed, but she couldn't help the shadow of a smile that spread across her lips. She turned to the commotion and saw exactly what she'd expected. Natsu and Gray each had a foot stomped on top of a table, fire and ice sparking as they prepared to brawl. Lucy and Wendy were pleading with them to stop while Carla simply shook her head in exasperation. Happy and Juvia stood off to the side, ecstatically cheering on their respective favorites._

 _In other words, everything really was exactly how it was supposed to be._

 _Normally, she would intervene in her teammates' childish quarrel. It was her duty as an S-Class wizard to maintain harmony in the guild after all, and few others had the strength to get between the Salamander and his rival. But, it was a celebration. What was the harm in them letting off a little steam?_

 _Besides, the first bite of her cake had been absolutely heavenly, and she just knew the next one would be even better—_

 _No! She was stronger than this! She could not shirk her duty!_

 _But the strawberry was so succulent—_

 _NO! She would not be tempted! Not even by something as divine and radiant as strawberry cake._

 _She had sworn her life to the guild and its rules, and she would not allow herself to be lax in that responsibility. She would return to her wonderous treat after ensuring order._

 _Her hands slammed onto the table with a thunderous crack. She whirled on her teammates. "Natsu! Gray! Cease this bickering at once! This is supposed to be a celebration."_

 _The pair immediately turned on her. Gray, always the smarter of the two, immediately cowered before her. The frost that had been gathering on his palms dissipated and he coolly withdrew to the floor._

 _Natsu, on the other hand, merely grinned at her command. "It's not a party without a good fight, Erza. And I'm feeling like today is my lucky day. This is the day I finally beat you!"_

 _Lucy frowned. "You said that yesterday."_

" _And every day before that" Happy noted bluntly, a cheeky smirk across his face._

" _Yeah? Well, today is different!" Natsu declared with gusto, posing proudly atop the table. "Today, nothing's gonna stop me! Today, I'm all fired u— Ahh!"_

 _The Fire Dragon Slayer's boast was left unfinished. Having a swirling vortex open up above you and drop four teenage girls on your head would do that to a person._

 _The table Natsu had been standing on toppled to the floor and the Salamander was buried under a quartet of color coded females._

" _Natsu!" Wendy cried._

" _Oh no!" Happy yelled. "More beautiful girls are falling over Natsu! That means Lucy has more competition for his looove."_

" _Shut up, you stupid cat!" Lucy retorted. "Did you miss the giant portal they fell out of? This is serious."_

 _Serious indeed. While random people falling from the sky wasn't unusual in the guild hall, they normally didn't arrive via a swirling black portal. The celebration had stopped cold as the stares of the entire guild fell on the new arrivals, confused whispers and mutterings whisking their way through the crowd._

 _Erza stepped forward immediately, making sure Wendy was safely behind her as she approached the new arrivals. If they proved dangerous, she didn't want the young girl in the line of fire. While the Sky Dragon Slayer was a more than capable fighter, she was still a child and Erza did not like the idea of her getting injured by a sneak attack, especially after she was assaulted just before the Grand Magic Games._

 _Though, as she examined the teenagers who had buried Natsu, she couldn't say such deception seemed likely. The four girls looked just as disoriented as the ambushed Fire Dragon Slayer, their eyes swirling about as they wobbled to their knees._

" _Everybody okay?" the one in a red hood, a silver-eyed girl that looked barely older than Wendy, asked._

" _Ugh, we're fine, you dolt. Are you alright?" one with stark white hair and a scar over her left eye responded._

" _I'm good, Weiss."_

" _Anyone get the number on that bullhead?" the girl with long (and if Erza had to say, impeccably groomed) blonde hair groaned._

 _The fourth girl slowly rose to her hands and knees. A black bow unraveled around the top of her head, revealing a pair of adorable cat ears within her dark hair. Erza just knew Millianna would have a heart attack from joy if she saw them._

 _The girl's clouded amber eyes scanned the guild hall and the chaotic assortment of wizards within it. "Uh, guys? I don't think we're in Beacon anymore."_

 _The rest of the quartet looked up. Their eyes went wide at the sight of the surrounding crowd, their bodies trembling in the face of the assembled guild. The one with the eye scar, Weiss, reached for a thin silver rapier at her side, obviously ready for a fight._

 _The Fairy Tail crowd just sort of blinked back, more curious than threatened. After all, they'd just fought time traveling dragons. Four girls falling through a random portal wasn't exactly something extravagant or frightening to them._

 _Several tense seconds passed as the two parties stared each other down._

 _The girl with the long blond hair waved at the guild. "Hey everybody! Sorry about crashing into your place and all, but would you be so kind as to let us know where we are? We seem to be a bit lost."_

" _Shurre! Youwre in Fairwy Taile!" Natsu mumbled, his face pressed to the floorboards._

 _The girls' eyes widened. They immediately leapt off the poor dragon slayer, embarrassed sweat pouring down their brows._

" _We are so sorry!" the red hooded one apologized. "We didn't see you there! Well, we didn't see anything, but we didn't mean to land on you—"_

" _What my team leader is trying to say is that we were unaware of our surroundings and humbly apologize for falling on you, sir," Weiss intervened. The white-haired girl bowed lowly. She nudged the others, and in a moment, all four bent forward towards Natsu._

 _The pink haired boy waved it off, rising to his feet. "No worries. We'll just have to have a rematch later. You guys must be pretty strong to get the jump on a Fairy Tail wizard."_

 _The blonde matched Natsu's feral grin with one of her own. "Well, that was mostly falling out of a portal in the right spot, but I'd say we're a bit more than 'pretty strong'. Name the time and name the place, pinky."_

" _Yang!" the one with cat ears protested. "Now is not the time!"_

" _Did you say wizard?" the red hooded girl squealed, stars twinkling in her eyes._

" _Don't be ridiculous, Ruby" Weiss reprimanded. "He's not a wizard. Seriously, where do you get these childish ideas?"_

" _Hey! Take that back!" Happy demanded, flying into the white-haired girl's face. "Natsu being a wizard isn't childish! He is one of the most powerful people in Fairy Tail. I mean sure, most of the time he acts like he doesn't have any brains between his ears and there's plenty of people who always beat him up: Erza, Master, Laxus, Gildarts, Lucy whenever we sneak into her house…"_

" _How does that count?" Natsu screeched._

 _Weiss seemed to have stopped listening. Her eyes were wide with horror and incomprehension as she stared at Happy. Indeed, all four girls seemed to have locked their shocked gazes onto the winged Exceed._

" _Guys…" Ruby whispered conspiratorially. "That cat has wings."_

" _Ruby, that cat is talking," the black haired one murmured back._

" _Oh good, you guys can hear it too" Yang muttered, not seeming at all relieved. "I thought it was just me who was going insane."_

 _Happy pouted adorably. "Well, of course, I can talk. Why wouldn't I?"_

" _Because you're a cat!" Weiss shouted. She desperately whipped her head around the guild hall, her pale blue eyes glistening with terror, like an icicle desperately trying not to melt. "What is this place?"_

 _Erza frowned. New people being confused by the Exceeds wasn't anything new. It was growing more uncommon as Happy's notoriety increased with Natsu's, but there was still some who were startled by the apparently ordinary cat's abilities. No, what worried Erza was the children's reaction to Natsu's declaration as a Fairy Tail wizard. Specifically, the fact that they homed in on the 'wizard' part._

 _Putting aside the fact that Fairy Tail was currently the hottest news in Fiore, their reactions, both Ruby's wonder and Weiss' disbelief, didn't seem to result from distrusting that Natsu could have such skill in his craft as to work in its highest echelon. Rather, they seemed mystified to have met a wizard at all, as if they were but creatures of fantasy to the girls._

 _Dozens of theories ran through Erza's head. How could these strange new arrivals not believe in wizards? They were one of the most popular occupations in all of Earthland._

 _Though, given their arrival by portal, could it be they were not from Earthland?_

 _She exchanged glances with Master Makarov. He nodded at her and she knew he'd come to the same conclusion she had. Though, given the lack of destruction that had been left behind by the Amina, they still needed to confirm their theory._

 _The Master stepped forward._

" _Girls." Makarov's booming voice was quiet, but its resolute baritone resonance stretched across the guild hall and guided the four girls' attention straight to him. "It seems that you are as confused as we all are. Perhaps we should all slow down before we start a fight. Let's begin with introductions. My name is Makarov Dreyar. I am the master of this guild."_

 _The girl in the red hood smiled widely at the master. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Makarov. I'm Ruby Rose."_

" _Weiss Schnee," Weiss declared. She paused a bit after she'd finished saying her name, but only silence filled the space. She blinked in surprise after a moment, and an unreadable expression descended over her face. Erza didn't have time to figure out what she was feeling before she dipped her head to the girl with cat ears._

" _Blake Belladonna," the black-haired girl stated._

 _The blonde flashed a grin. "Yang Xiao-Long."_

" _And together, we're Team RWBY!" Ruby proclaimed proudly, her hands on her waist like some kind of superhero._

 _Wendy stepped out from behind Erza's arm and raised an eyebrow. "The team is named after you?"_

" _What? No!" the silver-eyed girl protested, a crimson blush overtaking her face. She madly waved her arms before her in denial. "It's just that Beacon uses the first letters of our names and it just happened to make RWBY. It's spelled differently than it sounds. Though, yeah, it does get confusing sometimes."_

" _Oh, I get it," Wendy nodded. She smiled at the new arrivals. "Me, Carla, Natsu, Happy, Erza, Lucy, and Gray are on a team too. Though, we don't really have a name. Most people just call us the strongest team in Fairy Tail."_

" _Really?" Ruby's eyes sparkled. "That's awesome! I'm not sure if we're the strongest in Beacon, but probably in our year. Well, except for JNPR, but they're our friends and I'm pretty sure we can beat Pyrrha if we all gang up on her at once. Maybe. Wait, you're on a team with talking, flying cats?!"_

" _Yes, she is," Carla confirmed definitively. "Now, while I am pleased you are making a friend Wendy, I believe Master has some information for her."_

" _Oh, oops," Wendy apologized. "Sorry."_

" _No, it's fine. I know what it's like to get going on something" Ruby comforted her gently. "Like weapons! Oh, don't get me started on weap—"_

" _Ahem," Weiss croaked, her head not so subtly pointed at the master._

 _Ruby awkwardly scratched the back of her head. "Oh, right."_

 _It was then that Erza finally let down her guard. Whoever Team RWBY were, and wherever they came from, the leader at least had an earnest, nervous energy about her. From her talk of weapons, she was likely perfectly capable in combat, but Erza did not think she'd be any threat to the guild. She was too honest. A simple soul._

 _Ruby turned back to the master. "So… that's who we are. Who are all you guys?"_

 _Makarov furrowed his brow. "This is the Fairy Tail Guild."_

" _Neat," Yang noted. "What's that?"_

 _You could practically hear the disbelief from the crowd. The hurried mutterings increased tenfold, everyone seemingly coming up with their own theories about the source of the girls' obliviousness. Thanks to the Grand Magic Games, Fairy Tail was the talk of the kingdom, its name on the trunk of every tree and the lips of every citizen. Even those who didn't know the specifics should understand the general idea of what they were._

 _Apparently, Master Makarov agreed. "Perhaps this is something better discussed in private. Please accompany me to my office. Erza, Mira, please join us."_

" _What? Gramps, they fell on me" Natsu protested. "We have to figure out when we're going to have our—"_

" _Not now, Natsu," Erza cut in, her commanding tone immediately silencing the Salamander._

 _The Master nodded in thanks. "Thank you, Erza." He whirled on the whispering crowd. The chatter immediately stopped. "As for the rest of you brats, if I catch you eavesdropping I'll kick you through the floor so hard you'll pop out in Alvarez!"_

 _The entire guild nodded in deference. The only movement in the crowd was Laxus nonchalantly drowning his drink at the bar, having apparently lost interest in the current events._

 _Makarov smiled. "Now get loud, you kids! This is supposed to be a party!"_

" _YEAH!"_

 _Just like that, as if someone had switched on a lacrima, the energy of the room returned. The various groups of the guild returned to their individual conversations, the mysterious new arrivals likely still mentioned but pushed to the back of everyone's minds. After all, the Master said he would handle it. So why not enjoy the peace?_

" _Well, that's one way to keep a party going," Blake observed._

 _Mirajane walked up to the girls. She flashed them her warmest, most welcoming smile. "Come on. I'll show you the way to the master's office."_

 _The team didn't move for a moment. Weiss, Blake, and Yang all looked to Ruby, awaiting their leader's decision on whether to trust the strange old man. If she refused, they might decide that their best option was to fight their way out. It would be unfortunate, but Erza didn't sense too much magical energy within them. It was doubtful they were even wizards, which meant she shouldn't have too much trouble dealing with them. And that was if Natsu didn't get to them first._

 _Fortunately, Ruby nodded her consent to the plan, shooting Wendy a cheerful grin before they followed Mira to the master's office, Erza herself bringing up the rear._

 _Once they had arrived, and Erza had scared off an eavesdropping Natsu, Gray, and Lucy, Makarov stood in front of his desk, looking back at Team RWBY with a grave stare._

" _My children," he began softly. "This may sound a bit strange, but this Beacon place you keep speaking of, would you mind telling us what it is?"_

 _All the girls looked terribly confused. They shared worried glances between each other._

" _Um, it's Beacon," Ruby stated. "Beacon Academy. Vale's Huntsman School."_

" _I see," Makarov whispered. "And what is Vale?"_

" _Okay, you must be joking," Weiss snorted. "Vale is Vale. The kingdom of Vale. How can you not know that?"_

 _The Master sighed. "Likely for the same reason you don't recognize the name Fiore. Even though that is the kingdom we stand in at this very moment."_

" _What?" Blake exclaimed. "That's impossible. There are only four kingdoms."_

" _Yeah. What are you trying to pull?" Yang demanded. The bracelets on her wrists expanded into yellow gauntlets, the gears of some strange mechanism sounding from within._

 _Erza stepped in front of the child, her glare furious and commanding. "Do not dare insinuate that Master Makarov would ever stoop to such rancid deception. And especially don't believe I will allow you to draw a weapon in his presence."_

" _Oh really, red," Yang challenged. She took a threatening step forward. "You want to go?"_

" _Enough of this. Erza, stand down," Makarov commanded. "I am more than capable of defending myself. Besides, the children have the right to be suspicious. Their situation is hardly one to be anticipated."_

 _Erza bowed her head to the master and took a place by his side. Yang sent a mocking smirk her way, but the knight dealt with Natsu on a daily basis. This impetuous blonde was a hardly even an annoyance._

 _Master Makarov had Mira retrieve a rolled-up map from his desk drawer. With pitying solemnity, the Demon handed it to the children._

 _Team RWBY unfurled the parchment. All four girls' eyes widened with shock at the sight before them._

" _What… what is this?" Blake muttered fearfully._

 _Makarov sighed. "A map of Earthland. Our world. Though I suspect, not your world."_

" _This is impossible," Weiss protested. "Remnant is the world. There's only one world."_

" _I promise you, there is more," Makarov declared._

" _We've had our own experience with another dimension called Edolas," Mira sadly informed them. "Though, granted, most of us were turned into a giant lacrima during that period…"_

 _None of the girls seemed to be listening anymore. Their eyes glazed over like hard granite._

" _Girls?" Master Makarov inquired. "Girls? Girls?"_

 _Mirajane stopped her tale. She stepped forward and snapped her fingers in front of the girls' faces. There was no response._

" _Oh no, master," she moaned. "I think you broke them."_

" _I didn't mean to!" Master Makarov screeched. "Get them to the infirmary and call Porlyusica immediately!"_

" _Yes, master!" Erza obeyed. She lifted Ruby and Weiss over her shoulders and trudged out of the office towards the infirmary, Mira following close behind with Blake and Yang._

 _Natsu, Gray, and Lucy jumped out of the way of the opening door, apparently having returned after Erza had warned them off. Normally, she would have reprimanded them harshly for disobeying her commands and daring to violate the master's privacy, but she didn't want to drop their guests so she let it go for now. Her team filed in behind her as they advanced to the infirmary, Mira calling out for Elfman to send for Porlyusica along the way._

" _So, who are they?" Lucy asked. "Are they really from another world like Mystogan? Is the town going to be turned into a lacrima again?"_

" _It appears so," Erza confirmed. "The former at least. Magnolia is probably safe for now."_

" _Awesome!" Natsu cheered. "If they're anything like Mystogan, they must be super strong."_

" _Well, they did beat you without even trying."_

" _You wanna go, pervert?!"_

" _Don't push your luck, flame freak!"_

" _Enough!" Erza shouted. "They are distressed enough without you two bickering."_

 _The wizards arrived at the infirmary. Erza and Mira set the four girls down in their own fluffy beds, taking the time to tuck each of the teenagers under the covers._

 _Lucy worriedly watched over the patients, compassionate curiosity evident in her eyes. "How did they get here? When the Anima sucked up the town, there was still a gate for us to get to Edolas through. But the portal they came through, it disappeared as soon as they arrived. Do you think they can make another one?"_

" _Doubtful. Whatever that portal was, it was clearly highly advanced, and extremely powerful, magic," Erza observed. "If their world is anything like Edolas, whatever magic that exists there is either very limited or perhaps even nonexistent. And given their disbelief at seeing a wizard…"_

" _If they're not wizards, then what was that Beacon place they mentioned training them to do?" Natsu wondered. "Are they ninjas or something? Is that how they got the drop on me?"_

" _It doesn't take a ninja to get the drop on you," Gray taunted. He turned to Erza. "That said, Natsu's got a point. If these girls can't use magic, who made that portal? And why would someone that powerful bother sending four teenagers to another dimension?"_

 _Erza cautiously looked over Ruby Rose. While there was no power emanating from the other visitors, save a strange forcefield the mage couldn't identify, there was a peculiar magical energy pulsing behind her eyes. It felt abnormally potent, perhaps enough to power the portal that brought the four to their world, but its nature was different from any Erza had felt before. The closest she could recall was…_

 _No. No, that was preposterous._

" _Whoever they are, there is something dangerous about these four," Erza declared. "Whoever sent them here clearly did so without their knowledge. That means they wanted them out of the way, either for good or for ill. They may be far more powerful than they appear, and if not that, then far more unpredictable."_

 _Natsu smirked. "They're going to fit right in here."_

 _Erza recalled Ruby's conversation with Wendy. The two children had chatted cheerfully like they had just met on the playground. Even clearly disoriented, the silver-eyed girl had fully engaged the young Sky Dragon Slayer, a person both younger than her and completely unknown to her, energetically sharing her passions and joys with her new acquaintance._

 _She mirrored Natsu's smile._

" _Yes. I do believe they will."_

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

Jaune Arc stood outside Team RWBY's dorm. "It's been three days."

"Just because we haven't seen them, doesn't mean something's happened to them" his teammate, Nora Valkyrie, posited. "I mean, knowing Weiss they could be doing some super-secret training for the festival."

"Do you really think Ruby would agree to that?" her partner, Lie Ren, asked.

Nora snorted. "She would for a chocolate chip cookie. And Weiss can buy a _lot_ of cookies."

Jaune frowned. "No one has seen them though. I've checked with everyone: Sun, Neptune, the professors. Ruby isn't answering my calls and isn't seeing my messages. It's like they disappeared off the face of Remnant."

Pyrrha Nikos, his partner, put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "We understand Jaune. We care about them too. But are you sure this is the best way to go about it?"

Jaune frowned. He'd tried every other thing he could think of. He'd told Professor Ozpin about his worries, but the headmaster had assured him not to worry. The leader of Team JNPR had tried to calm his fears, but Ruby was the first friend he'd ever made outside his family and the rest of her team had followed soon after (okay, Weiss took a bit longer, but that was mostly his fault). He couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong, that they were in danger.

If he was wrong, he could only hope they could forgive him.

"I'm sure it's the best option we've got."

Pyrrha grimaced but nodded. "Alright then. We're with you."

Jaune smiled. "Thank you. Nora?"

"Hey, we either save their lives or uncover their super-secret tournament plans. Win-win, the way I see it."

Ren cocked an eyebrow. "Nora, they're not there. I would sense them if they wer—"

"Hush, Renny." The orange haired warrior raised her giant hammer Magnhild above her head. A feral grin sparked across her face. "Knock knock!"

One hammer swing later and the steel door crumpled inward. Team JNPR quickly rolled into the dorm room, their eyes scanning about for any sign of their fellows.

"Ruby?" Jaune called out. "Are you here?"

"No one is here, Jaune," Ren repeated. "I would have felt them with my semblance if they were."

"What? Since when can your semblance do that? Why didn't you mention that before we knocked down the door?"

"I tried."

"Hey, what's this?" Nora exclaimed. She picked up a thick black book, a strange series of symbols on the back cover. " _By Sitara Astra…_ Oh, Blake must've left one of her smut books out."

Suddenly, a black and gold energy flashed around the volume, crackling like a stirring tempest.

"Nora, drop it!" Pyrrha ordered. She pulled the other redhead away from the tome as the clouded volume cluttered back to the floor.

Team JNPR fearfully backed away from the book, their weapons raised for action.

Pulsing black energy shot up in a massive pillar. The transparent air below the room's ceiling distorted into a wide, swirling portal, dark sparks of power shooting off every which way.

"What is that?" Jaune breathed in terror.

"It's an invasion!" Nora yelled. "Aliens are invading Remnant! They'll turn us into slaves! They'll mutate the Grimm into an intelligent species! They'll reign over us with an iron fist! Hah! They'll ban pancakes! We have to stop them!"

"Wait!" Ren shouted. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Jaune asked incredulously. He couldn't hear anything over grating _wheerrr_ of the portal.

Pyrrha closed her eyes. She nodded in comprehension. "He's right. I can hear it too. There's something coming out of the portal."

"Aliens!"

"No. It sounds like… it sounds like… _aaahhh_?"

"Aaaahhhhhhh!"

A high pitched squeal broke through the air. Four familiar girls plummeted out of the portal and smashed into the floor of the room in a massive heap.

The black gate closed shortly after and the book fell onto Weiss' bed.

Jaune and the others rushed over to the heap of new arrivals. Fortunately, an easily identifiable red hood was on the very top of the pile.

"Ruby? Are you okay?" the leader of Team JNPR asked, concerned. "Where have you guys been? What was that portal thing?"

Ruby groggily raised her face, her silver eyes disjointed and unfocused. She flashed a dopey smile and pointed an unsteady finger at her friend. "Hey, Jaune. What are you doing in our room? You should really skedaddle before Erza finds you here. If she does, she's gonna _kick_ your ass!"

Jaune looked to Pyrrha, who shrugged in response. The blond boy gulped and turned back to his friend. "Um, Ruby, who is Erza?"

"Who's Erza? Come on, Jaune. Stop being silly. Erza's the awesomest wizard in Fairy Tail," Ruby stated boldly. "Sure, you've never met her, but that's—"

Ruby's eyes comically widened. "Jaune! Oh my gods! How are you—Wait!" The red reaper bounded off her team and leapt onto her bed. She feverishly scanned the room, her jaw dropping at every sight she took in. "This is Beacon. We're at Beacon!"

"Of course, you're at Beacon," Nora noted. "You guys have only been gone a few days. It'd be stupid if you went _away_ for your super-secret training with the Vytal Festival so close."

"A few days!" Ruby exclaimed. "It's only been a few days?"

"Ruby, calm down," Pyrrha comforted. "Take a deep breath."

"Ergh, yes, you dolt," Weiss grounded as she rolled over the floor. "You and Wendy can have your little sleepover later. We need to sleep. Seriously, you're nearly as bad as that flamebrain."

"What, like your Snow Prince is so much better, Ice Queen?" Yang teased from her laid out position.

"He's not my—do you want Juvia to kill me in my sleep?"

"Guys, please!" Blake begged, desperation thick in her voice. "Mira says she's got a _special_ session for me tomorrow. I need at least four hours of sleep not to die. Save the boy war for later."

"You wound me, Blakey. Do you really think I'd be so cruel as to leave Lucy out of the fun?"

"Tease later. Sleep now."

"Oh, come on, you don't need that long a _cat_ nap."

"Die in a hole."

"Guys!" Ruby yelled. "We're back at Beacon! For real this time!"

All three girls reluctantly cracked open their eyes. None of them looked very impressed.

Weiss sighed. "Ruby, I swear, if you wasted our rent on another illusionist…"

"I didn't" Ruby protested. She blasted over to Team JNPR with her semblance and dragged Jaune and Pyrrha over. "See? Jaune and Pyrrha are here."

Yang chuckled. "Really, Rubes? That's your play?"

"It's not a trick! Ask them anything."

"Fine" Yang rolled her eyes. "Pyrrha, who do you have a crush on?"

Pyrrha's face immediately went bright red. She briefly glanced at Jaune, and then looked the other way as fast as she could.

Jaune raised an eyebrow at the display. He appreciated that Pyrrha looked to him for emotional support in the matter, but he didn't even have a clue that she had a crush before Yang just mentioned it. He wasn't sure what encouragement he could provide her for going after the lucky guy.

Apparently, her actions were enough to convince Yang though. Her lilac eyes widened. She stared back to Blake, whose amber orbs were equally large. "No way… it can't be…"

"It's not" Weiss denied. "And I'll prove it. Jaune, call me Snow Angel."

"Huh? But you said the next time I did that, you'd shove Crocea Mors so far up my—"

"Oh my god, we're back at Beacon" Weiss gasped. A wide smile spread across her face. "We're back at Beacon!"

"Yeah, but we've only been gone a few days," Ruby exclaimed.

"What? That's impossible," Blake declared. "We were in Fiore for six months. How could we…"

"Was it all a dream?" Yang wondered. "Some weird… shared… fever dream?"

"Fever dream?" Nora repeated disbelievingly. "You guys fell out of a swirling black portal. That's not a fever dream. At least not any I've had…"

"Guys," Ruby whispered, her gaze looked down at her right hand. "She's right. It was real. It was all real."

All four girls copied Ruby's vision to look at their own arms. It was only then that Jaune noticed the biggest difference from when he saw them last. Though their clothes were basically the same bar a few extra scruffs here and there, on the back of their hands were strange tattoos. Bird-like marks, exactly alike save for their differing colors. Ruby's was red, Weiss' was white, Blake's was black, and Yang's was yellow.

Pyrrha put a hand on her chin thoughtfully. "That emblem, I've seen it somewhere before."

"What are they?" Ren inquired.

Ruby turned to Team JNPR, her silver eyes resolute as she proudly displayed her crimson tattoo. "They're our guild marks. The symbol of Fairy Tail wizards."

A hush fell over the room. Jaune didn't know what it was, but he was paralyzed under Ruby's gaze. She'd always had a weird, irresistible charisma. Whether she knew it or not, she inspired them all every day with her indomitable determination and boundless optimism. She did what she saw as right, no more and no less. Some might call that a bit naïve, and though Jaune held her in the highest possible esteem, he could understand how others could see her as childish.

But none could call the woman who stood before him now a child. He'd always known Ruby was skilled. Now, he could see that whatever happened to her and the others on the opposite side of the black portal, it had made her powerful.

Of course, there were those that never showed any regard for power.

"So, you guys are wizards now?" Nora said flatly. "As in, you can do magic." She leaned into Ren. "I told you: super-secret training."

* * *

 **So begins Fairies of the Shattered Moon.**

 **We're going to be jumping back and forth in the timeline, with flashbacks to Team RWBY's time in Fiore shown alongside their developing adventures in Volume 3. We will see them forge friendships and the like with the various Fairy Tail members, as well as how they got back home and who left them the book in the first place.**

 **A huge thank you to my patrons: ArcherMcMuffin, Gregg Tracton, Keith Traction.**

 **Thank you all for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!**

 **Go Forth and Conquer!**


	2. Emergency Author's Note

Hello Everyone,

This is not a chapter, and I apologize for that, but something has come up in the Real World that requires immediate attention.

My good friend and fellow author on this site, **Shirou Fujimura** , is in trouble. his mother has an ovarian cyst and needs surgery to get it removed. The operation costs $6,000 and he and his family do not have the money or healthcare to pay for it.

He has set up a GoFundMe page for her to pay for the surgery.

I know we all come to fanfiction for fun, for a break from real life and all its crap, but this is the life of a real innocent woman we are talking about. If everyone donated just five dollars, half the funds would be raised. Even just sharing the page would be an immense help.

This is the link: **www.** gofundme **.** co m **/ single-mom-has-to-have-surgery-asap**

It is also on my profile, where it can be copy and pasted.

We can all make a difference.

Thank you,

Sincerely,

TheMaster4444


	3. Chapter 2

**The chapter of September is here! (I am aware it is August 31st, but I just couldn't help it. Enjoy!)**

 **If you wish to support me, please check out my P a treon for future chapter summaries, story ideas and more: p a Treon.(c om) (backslash) themaster4444**

* * *

 _Ruby groaned as her eyes fluttered open. That was the weirdest dream she'd ever had. She'd opened a book, then everything glowed silver, and her team had been sucked into a swirling black and gold portal. She'd thought they were in another dimension! With wizards! That was ridiculous! She needed to tell Jaune about it, it was almost as out there as those 'X-ray and Vav' comics he was always reading._

 _She allowed herself to sink back into her fluffy mattress and pillow. She needed a bit more shuteye after that dream, no matter what Weiss said about their sleep schedule. Still, that Fairy Tail place had seemed fun. That blue-haired girl especially seemed really nice, plus she had a talking cat! With wings! It was like having a pocket-sized Blake that could fly! Though, the redhead woman in armor, what was her name? Erza? She was really scary. Like, almost scarier than Miss. Goodwitch. She didn't even know that was possible!_

 _Nonetheless, Ruby couldn't help the smile that graced her lips. "It sure would be cool to meet a real wizard though."_

" _Really? I'm glad I could help you with that." A young, sweet voice piped up._

 _Ruby's eyes shot open. She bolted upright, unable to believe what she saw. She wasn't in her team's dorm. The others were in the same room, slumbering peacefully in their own beds, but the area itself was completely different. While Beacon was made of thick concrete and reinforced steel, it had to be to survive upcoming huntsmen, this room's walls were built of brick and cobblestone, with its flooring showing polished oak wood._

 _But the most impossible sight was the person smiling at the foot of Ruby's bed._

 _The girl with blue hair._

 _Her dark sapphire locks were pulled back in a pair of ponytails, a rich purple dress complimenting her hair perfectly. She looked down at Ruby with an excited grin._

" _Y…Yo…You!" Ruby exclaimed, pointing accusingly at the girl. "You're here! You're real!"_

 _The girl's face shrank back, confused by the outburst. "Uh… yes. Ms. Porlyusica made sure you and your friends were alright, but she didn't want to stay too long. She's not really fond of humans. The only reason she helps us out at all is that she's old friends with the Master. But don't worry, I know a lot about healing magic. I've made sure you guys are okay."_

" _Riiight," Ruby hesitantly replied. It was like meeting Penny all over again, except back then she'd at least been comfortable since they were in the middle of Vale. Now, there was no telling where she was. "Who are you?"_

 _The girl gasped. "I'm so sorry! I'm Wendy Marvell, the Sky Dragon Slayer of Fairy Tail."_

" _Nice to meet you, Wendy. Well, I know we already talked before, but this feels more like a meeting so…" Ruby sighed as she sensed herself start to trail off. This really wasn't the best time for her faulty social skills to act up. "I'm Ruby Rose."_

" _You already introduced yourself, child. The entire guild knows who you are," a posh voice noted._

 _Ruby's gaze whirled to her lower bedpost. She gasped. "A talking cat!"_

 _The white-furred feline sighed in exasperation. "Exceed, if you will. Though I suppose you have no way of knowing that, so 'cat' will have to do for now. Happy certainly never makes the distinction."_

 _Wendy grinned. "This is Carla, my partner."_

" _You have a talking cat as a pet?" Ruby questioned excitedly. Whatever her worries about the situation, talking animals were like Awesome Magic 101. What she wouldn't give to have a conversation with Zwei._

" _Carla isn't my pet," Wendy kindly corrected. "She's my best friend."_

" _Caretaker really," Carla noted. "All the times you've let the others drag you into trouble…"_

 _Ruby rubbed her head shyly. "Oh, I get it. Sorry. Blake's kind of like that too. She's my sister Yang's partner and tries to keep her from doing anything too crazy. Plus, she's a cat faunus, so there's that." Her eyes went wide when she realized what she'd said. "But that's a secret! Don't tell anyone!"_

 _Wendy only looked at Ruby even more confused. "What's a faunus?"_

" _What? A faunus is a faunus. You know, a person with some kind of animal trait? Though I suppose they might not exist here, new dimension and everything—"_

 _Ruby's mind stalled and sputtered to a halt. And then reviewed the situation. Then it completely crashed. Her silver eyes stretched to their most outward limits in disbelief, her face fell gaunt, and her expression constantly flickered between her rush of emotions._

" _Oh, there's a name for that?" Wendy inquired, not noticing Ruby's distress. "There's an acquaintance of ours in Lamia Scale that has some traits of a dog, but he's a lot furrier than your friend—"_

" _I'm in another dimension!" Ruby screamed._

 _Oh gods, oh gods, oh gods, this could not be happening! They were in another world, without any idea how to get back to Remnant. They might never see dad, or Uncle Qrow, or JNPR, or Zwei, or anyone ever again. They had no way to get any help. Oh, why did she have to read that stupid book?_

 _Weiss would never redeem her family name. Blake would never stop faunus oppression. Yang would never be able to track down her mom. And it was all because of her._

 _Some leader she was. She'd led her team to disaster._

 _She felt a pair of light hands on her shoulders._

" _Breathe," Wendy advised. "Just breathe and calm down. Everything's going to be alright."_

" _Alright? We're in another dimension! How is everything going to be alright?"_

" _Because you're not alone. You've got your friends," the little girl reminded her. "And with your friends by your side, you can do things you never thought possible."_

" _I don't think interdimensional travel is one of those things! I didn't even know that was a thing!" Ruby panicked. "We're never going to see anyone we care about ever agai—"_

 _Wendy's grip turned tight. She cut off Ruby's terror and forced her to stare her in the face, silver eyes to brown orbs._

" _You will see the people you care about again," Wendy declared, her gaze brimming with conviction. "I know you don't know me very well, but believe me, nothing is impossible for Fairy Tail. We've defeated some of the most powerful dark wizards in the world. We've traveled to another dimension and got everyone back just fine. We even took on seven time traveling dragons that were running amok in the capital. I promise you will see your home again. You have my word as a Fairy Tail wizard."_

 _Ruby could only blink in shock. Just a moment before, Wendy had seemed just as fragile as she herself had felt. Then suddenly her entire persona had changed into some sort of super, mega awesome warrior wizard. No wonder she was called a… what was it? Dragon Slayer?_

 _Wait…_

" _That last bit about time traveling dragons, did that really happen?"_

 _Wendy nodded. "Last week."_

 _Okay, existential crisis about never seeing home again aside, that was pretty awesome._

" _You have dragons in this world?" Ruby gasped. "That's amazing! Can I meet one?"_

 _Wendy's eyes widened, her confident persona shattered like a pane of glass. She nervously scratched the back of her head. "Well, there aren't that many anymore, actually. The only dragon we've seen recently is Acnologia, and he used to be a Dragon Slayer like me and Natsu, but he's not someone you want to meet. The last time we encountered him, he would have killed us all if the First Master hadn't intervened. Aside from that, Natsu, Gajeel, and I have been looking for our parents for years now, but we haven't been able to find them."_

 _Ruby raised an eyebrow. "Your parents are dragons?"_

 _How would that even work? Is she like a dragon faunus or something? But then why would she be a dragon 'slayer'?_

" _Yes, my mother is—"_

" _Wendy, the poor girl just woke up," Carla interrupted. "You can't overload her with details like that."_

" _Aw, but I want to know about the dragons!" Ruby whined._

" _There'll be time for dragons later," an authoritative voice declared._

 _Ruby's eyes whirled to the entrance of the infirmary. In the doorway stood the short old man in the white furry robe from before, Master Mokareeve or something. Beside him were the two older girls who'd accompanied them into his office, the beautiful one with wavy white hair and a long black dress, and the gorgeous, stern one with long red hair and armor like a knight out of a storybook, Erza. Fortunately, she wasn't using her Miss. Goodwitch stare. Ruby didn't think she could handle one of those at the moment._

 _Makarov pulled up a stool and sat at Ruby's bedside. "For now, there are other matters we must discuss. I think we need to understand all we can about your situation so that we can help young Wendy keep her promise."_

 _Ruby nodded gratefully, though a frown still covered her face. "Thank you, Mr. Mokareeve."_

 _"Makarov," the short man interjected, albeit with a small smile on his face. The white-haired girl hid her smile between one of her delicate hands while the red-haired one's neutral face deepened into a miniature frown._

 _"Oh, sorry about that." Ruby apologized awkwardly, rubbing her hand against the back of her head. There goes that social awkwardness again. Sheesh!_

 _"No worries my child." Makarov smiled kindly. "I believe you were saying something?"_

 _"Oh right!" Ruby started._ " _Thank you, Mr. Makarov. But I think we should wait until my team wakes up. I don't want to accidentally get us into an even bigger mess."_

" _If your friends trust you as their leader, then you would likely do just fine," Erza comforted her. "Nonetheless, if you wish for them to be present in the conversation, so be it."_

 _The armored woman held up a hand. "Requip!"_

 _A shining glow emanated from the wizard's hand. A moment later, the light faded and Erza held a massive hammer, encrusted with silver and ivory. Then, somehow, it lit itself on fire._

 _This new world was awesome!_

" _Um, Ruby," Wendy prodded. "You're drooling."_

" _Please, show some decorum child," Carla chided. "It's a war hammer, not a cake."_

" _But it's so amazing," Ruby gushed in wonder. She had to figure out how it split its weight so efficiently that Erza could carry it in one hand with so little effort. Maybe, she'd get a better idea of how it worked after she used it to wake up the others—_

 _Oh, that was a slight problem._

" _No, wait!" Ruby protested, waving her arms wildly. "You'll kill them! Well, you'll kill Weiss and Blake. You'll make Yang mad!"_

 _Erza raised an eyebrow. "I'm sure they'll be fine. I wake up Natsu and Gray like this all the time on missions."_

 _Mira winced. "I'm not sure that's the best scale to judge these four at Erza." The white-haired girl flashed a smile that, despite its honest geniality, left Ruby shaking in her bed. "We'll just have to use the other way."_

" _What?" Erza gasped in horror. "You can't… you can't be serious! Master, they're just children!"_

" _We have no choice," Makarov solemnly stated. "If the leader does not approve of your method, Erza, then we shall default to Mira's. Whatever the consequences."_

 _The wizard in armor grimaced as she clenched her fist to her side._

 _Ruby gulped. They both seemed to be really terrified of Mira's way of waking up the others. Maybe she should let them use the hammer?_

" _Requip," Erza pronounced. The amazing hammer disappeared in a flash of light. And in its place was…_

 _A feather?_

 _Erza handed it to Mira as if she was handling a wild Beowolf cub. "Be gentle with them."_

 _Mira smiled as she took the feather. "Don't worry, Erza. I know it's their first time."_

 _She marched over to Yang's bed and threw off the covers._

 _Ruby found herself shivering in dread. Was she a bad sister for letting this happen to Yang? Erza and Makarov seemed pretty tough after all and they were cowering behind her bed._

 _She turned to Wendy, who looked just as confused as she felt. "Is this safe?"_

 _The healer nodded. "Mirajane is one of the nicest people in the guild. She wouldn't do anything to hurt your friends." She tilted her head and thought about it a little more. "Probably."_

 _Ruby shuddered. Probably or not, her team needed to hear whatever Makarov needed to tell them. And this had to be better than being woken up by a hammer. If it seemed like it was really dangerous, she could always speed over with her semblance and push Yang to safety. If the wizards didn't have some kind of slowing magic on her at least. That would be a problem._

 _Mira pulled off Yang's boot, and slowly pressed the feather to the bottom of her foot._

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

"She tickled you?" Ren repeated incredulously.

"That monster!" Nora exclaimed, far more terrified by the prospect. "How did you guys survive that kind of agony?"

"Eh, in hindsight it wasn't that bad," Yang remarked. "It was more of Mira's force of personality that was scary at the time."

"Agreed," Weiss concurred. "The entire guild was kind to us during our stay, but Mirajane was always especially accommodating. Right, Blake?"

Blake had crawled up into a ball and was currently rolling against her bed, her amber eyes wide with terror. "So many pillows. So many pillows…"

"Um, is she okay?" Jaune worried.

"Oh, don't worry, she's just having a flashback to her training," Ruby explained. The red reaper shuddered. "Mira was the nicest person you'd ever meet, but as a teacher…" All of Team RWBY shuddered. "She was called The Demon for a reason."

"I can understand that. My own mother was quite similar," Pyrrha declared. "Her training made me who I am today, but it was quite… excessive, in some ways."

Jaune cocked an eyebrow. "I thought you were training me the same way you were trained."

Pyrrha patted his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Jaune. But I care about you too much to inflict that on you."

Jaune gulped. If a training regimen was too much for his partner, who had risen to the top by spending far more extra time improving her skills that anyone should have, then he was thankful she'd been thinking of his wellbeing.

"That's right fearless leader! You're way better alive than dead after all!" Nora joyously whooped in a voice which was in complete contrast to the message she spoke.

Everybody laughed at Jaune's expense, including Jaune himself, along with Pyrrha, who couldn't resist showing a slight smile.

"So, this Mirajane woke you all up," Ren noted, bringing everyone back on track. "What happened next?"

"Well, we told them who were, about Remnant and Beacon. And then Master Makarov explained everything about Fiore," Ruby informed them. "You know, without us passing out. It went about as well as you'd expect."

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

" _Calm down!" Erza commanded. "I understand your distress, but panic will not help your situation."_

" _Easy for you to say!" Yang exclaimed. "You're not trapped in another dimension!"_

 _Erza decided against informing them that she had, in fact, been in their situation before. Only she had been trapped as a magic crystal, and then after she got back to normal had to immediately face off with a misguided version of herself for the sake of her family. Her experience did not give her the right to condescendingly judge their emotions, especially not after she had allowed Mira to wake them using that horrid technique._

 _The Titania shuddered. She should have burned that infernal feather long ago._

 _To their credit, the girls' second reaction to their situation was much improved from their first. Ruby had already had a bit of time to process from her talk with Wendy, so she was helping Weiss comprehend what had happened, though the white-haired girl was still softly muttering how interdimensional travel was impossible. Yang was the fiercest on the matter, 'freaking out' as one would say. Blake just stared off into the distance, her eyes not quite looking at the wall._

" _I'm the only one. The only faunus on this planet," the cat-eared girl muttered in shock. "I'm alone."_

 _Yang immediately calmed down, looking to her teammate with earnest worry. She leaped out of her bed and rushed over to the other girl, enveloping her in a sisterly hug. "You're not alone, Blake. You've got all of us."_

 _Weiss shook her head and gazed fondly on her friends, her eyes still cracked with worry, but soothed somewhat. "She's right. Other dimension or not, Team RWBY sticks together."_

" _Yeah!" Ruby cheered, pumping a fist in the air. "This won't stop us. We'll figure out a way home and be back before the Vytal Festival!"_

 _Weiss' shoulders slumped, tears rushing down her face. "But we have no food, shelter, money, or connections in this entire world and only the dust we brought with us for our weapons!"_

 _Ruby's face fell. "Oh right. That's… a bit of a problem. But… we can do this. We can… totally do this."_

" _Ruby, we appreciate the optimism, but this isn't really something to be sure about," Blake noted. "We… we might be stuck here."_

 _All four girls, even Ruby, looked down at down to the floor, despair evident in their eyes. Erza knew that hopelessness well, the crushing terror of believing there was no escape. During her childhood at the Tower of Heaven, she'd had it in her own eyes every day, just as everyone else had. Save Jellal. And that, if anything, was proof that sometimes it was easier to live without hope. There was nothing to be crushed then._

 _But there was also nothing to live with, to move forward for. Jellal's hope had provided an opening for Ultear to control him, and that had caused more tragedy than anyone should have had to live through, but they did live through it. And they were still living. Simon's death had not been in vain, and even now Jellal sought to seek atonement and better himself in his memory. Whatever her feelings on her friend (and that wasn't a mess she was willing to touch with her longest spear), she could be proud of his commitment to moving forward towards a better tomorrow._

 _These girls, Team RWBY, she could not allow them to fall into the same despair that had nearly claimed her._

 _Fortunately, the Master had more than enough experience to beat her to the punch in this matter._

" _Do not lose hope, my children. Though your road may seem unclear, it is far from impassable," Makarov comforted them. "And, if you'd like, I may be able to offer you an opening path."_

 _Weiss scoffed. "We're incredibly grateful for your hospitality sir, but with all due respect, what can we possibly do?"_

" _Join Fairy Tail."_

 _The four girls' heads shot up, their eyes wide with disbelief._

 _Erza didn't blame them. She, Wendy, and Carla also had incredulous stares locked on their master._

" _That's a great idea, master!" Mira cheered._

 _Erza couldn't help but disagree. She sympathized with the girls quite a bit, but they literally just showed up out of nowhere. Even for Fairy Tail, that was a bit fast. Plus, the more obvious problem._

" _Um, that's really nice of you, Mr. Makarov," Ruby stuttered. "But, we're not… you know…"_

" _We're not wizards," Yang finished bluntly. "How the hell are we supposed to be a part of a wizard guild when yesterday we thought wizards were made up?"_

" _We will handle your instruction. With the combat skills you've gained from this huntress training of yours, it should not be too difficult," Makarov assured them. "For the time being, you are stuck in our world. That means you will need work. You will not find a more nurturing environment than Fairy Tail. We've had clients from all over this continent, providing us with a vast information network. We can use that to help you search for a way home. And, if worst should come to worst, perhaps this guild can be your new home. What do you say?"_

 _The four girls worriedly looked to each other. They were unsure, a reasonable state after being offered such a tremendous decision in their situation. But really, what else could they do?_

 _Ruby gulped and turned to the Master. "I guess, we're in."_

" _On a trial basis," Weiss interrupted. "Just because you say learning…" Her face contorted as if she couldn't believe what she was about to say. "Magic… Just because you say it will be easy to learn magic doesn't mean it won't have some adverse consequences for us. Just because we look the same doesn't mean our anatomy is identical. We are from two different worlds after all."_

 _Makarov nodded. "Very well then. Welcome to the guild. Mira, please get them their guild marks. Wendy, please stay with them in case there is something to this different anatomy thing."_

" _Of course, master," the Maiden of the Sky replied._

 _Makarov nodded, and walked out of the room, flashing Team RWBY a grandfatherly smile as he left._

 _Erza gave the girls a genially nod herself before she raced after the Master._

" _Master, what are you doing?" she inquired as they strode through the halls of the guild. "You're not one to allow those who are not already wizards into Fairy Tail."_

" _This is hardly a normal situation, Erza. Besides, what do you suggest? Throwing them out onto the streets," Makarov retaliated._

 _Erza shook her head. "I am not averse to providing them support. I will gladly pay for rooms in Fairy Hills for them myself until they can get on their feet. But if they cannot use magic, perhaps it would be better to put them in contact with some of the mercenary guilds. Not everyone takes to magic as easily as the founders did."_

" _Which is why I'm going to be entrusting their instruction to you," the Master declared. "You heard Weiss. They don't have enough of their 'dust' to maintain a combat career with their world's methods. They need to at least understand the mechanics of our world if they are to be safe until they find a way home."_

 _Erza frowned. "There's something else. Why are you so concerned for their safety?"_

 _Makarov stopped and sighed. "There is something stirring in the world since the Grand Magic Games. The First Master has sensed it. Dark magic, as old as Zeref and possibly just as powerful. Something dangerous is coming, and I don't think these girls' arrival is unconnected. Or if it is, something of similar strength to the Black Wizard has designs on them. Either way, no mercenary guild will be able to protect them from whatever force is interested in them."_

" _Can Fairy Tail?"_

" _If we can't, then no power on Earthland can," Makarov declared. "Besides, you've seen their spirits. How can we allow such bright and brilliant young souls to be smothered by the misfortune that has been thrust upon them?"_

 _Erza smiled. That was just like the master. Like Gajeel, like Juvia, like Gray, Natsu, and even her, Master Makarov would never sit by and allow innocent youngsters to be left adrift in the unpredictable tides of the world. She'd been a broken soul when they'd met, a frightened, lonely little girl who'd only ever known suffering and loss. But he'd put her back together. He'd given her a family._

" _I'll begin their instruction immediately," she informed him. "By this time next week, they'll be halfway to S-Class."_

 _Makarov's face fell. "Maybe don't push them that hard. Otherwise, they might take Natsu up on his offer for a rematch, and we just got the guildhall back…"_

 _She really shouldn't have, it was disrespectful to her father figure's struggles after all, but Erza couldn't help but laugh._

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"How did you know about the parts you weren't there for?" Jaune inquired.

Ruby chuckled. "We did talk to people about this stuff, you know. They told us most of it, and whatever they didn't we bribed Happy for."

"That nosy tomcat shouldn't have been eavesdropping on people like that," Weiss grumbled.

"Maybe," Yang shrugged. "But it sure makes it easier to tell the story. Easier to bribe someone when they take fish."

"Who cares about the how?" Nora exclaimed. "You guys became wizards! You learned magic! What was the magic training like?"

"I must admit, I'm rather curious about that too," Pyrrha admitted.

Blake cringed. "It… really wasn't as interesting as you'd think it would be."

* * *

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" _And that is how one absorbs ethernano from the atmosphere into their body and through their origins in order to use magic," Erza lectured, smacking a scribble covered blackboard with a rod similar to Miss Goodwitch's. "So, are there any questions?"_

 _All four members of Team RWBY, now with Fairy Tail guild marks on the back of their hands, sat cross-legged in front of the red-headed wizard. Yang's eyes were white with blatant incomprehension. Blake kept reaching for one of the books strewn about the floor, only to repeatedly put it down, probably after being painfully reminded that she was a dimension away from her emergency 'Ninjas of Love' collection. Weiss had a notebook and pen she'd borrowed from Wendy's teammate Lucy and was attempting to dutifully take notes as she usually did, but for some reason, her brow was furrowed in befuddlement._

 _Ruby didn't know why. Erza may have been as intimidating as one would expect from some strange mix of Pyrrha and Professor Goodwitch, but her explanation had made sense. The strange symbols she'd put on the board were completely incomprehensible, but her verbal lecture had been way more to the point than Professor Port's were. Still, if the others were having trouble…_

" _So, just to be clear, we meditate until our bodies can absorb ethernano, then our origin converts that into magic power and stores it until we release it as spells," the red hooded huntress clarified._

" _Correct," Erza confirmed, smiling proudly at Ruby. "Though how much magic power one's vessel can hold varies from person to person. And in pitch battle, you will likely expend magic far quicker than your body can absorb new ethernano."_

 _Ruby nodded. It was similar to aura, only instead of the soul, the power came from the outside world, which at least for this world meant they would never run out of power in the long run. Though in the short term, you could use up all your energy if you didn't measure your output for each spell, like using your semblance would cost you aura. It was really weird that the two systems were so similar, yet with such a crucial difference in their energy source._

 _Yang whirled on Ruby. "You got all of that?"_

 _Ruby shrugged. "Yeah. You didn't?"_

 _That was weird. Yang was usually pretty good at academic stuff. Not an honors student or anything, that was Weiss' turf, but when their dad was a teacher they couldn't afford to get lazy. They both usually passed with B's in class, Yang being a little higher. It wasn't that Ruby didn't try as hard, it was that she was usually better at using whatever lecture they were listening to as background noise while she focused on doodling possible new weapons than giving it or the notes her full attention. They were just so boring. If she put all her attention on it, she'd just fall asleep. Yang usually used whatever notes were put on the board._

 _Weiss cocked an eyebrow. "Ruby, how in the world did you read… well, that?"_

 _She gestured at Erza's writing on the chalkboard. Their wizard tutor scowled at the insult._

 _Ruby rolled her eyes. "Weiss, we're in another dimension. Do you really expect the writing to be exactly the same?"_

 _Blake narrowed her eyes. "Ruby…"_

" _That's just unreasonable. This is a whole new world. With magic! With a whole different culture."_

" _Ruby…"_

" _It's like one of Professor Oobleck's 'What If?" papers. How would the world have developed if dust never came to be? Well, they've had to develop with magic! There is no possible way we can expect their language and writing to be exactly the same as ours—"_

" _Ruby!" Blake shouted. She held up one of the books she had been looking over. Written across the page, clear as day, were easily identifiable letters. "It is."_

 _Ruby's eyes nearly popped out of her head. "No way!"_

 _Weiss sighed. "Honestly, you dolt. How would we even be able to talk to them if the language wasn't the same?"_

" _But… but… but…" Ruby stuttered. "Alternate dimension!"_

 _Yang shrugged and put her hands behind her head. "Guess we got lucky. We'd be pretty dead if we got stuck in a world where we couldn't talk to anyone."_

" _But then why can't we read the stuff Erza wrote on the chalkboard?"_

" _I doubt there is only one written language in this entire world," Weiss pointed out. "It's likely she is just using another, one we don't have on Remnant."_

" _That is possible. But not the case this time."_

 _The girls turned around to see Lucy, Wendy, Carla, the blue cat and those other two guys from their team walk into the backroom._

 _Lucy grimaced. "Erza's handwriting just… isn't the best."_

" _What are you talking about?" the one they'd landed on (Natsu! That was his name!) inquired. "Erza taught me everything I know about reading and writing after Igneel left."_

" _My point exactly," Lucy remarked._

 _Erza trembled and spun away from everyone with a huff. She crossed her arms in front of her as she sulked._

 _Wendy came over and sat down next to Ruby._

" _I'm sorry Ms. Erza," Ruby called. She turned to Wendy. "Is she going to be okay?"_

" _She'll be fine," Wendy assured her. "Ms. Erza is really tough."_

" _Though her penmanship is truly atrocious," Carla declared._

" _I'm sure your handwriting is amazing, Carla," Happy complimented._

 _Natsu smacked his fists together, small flames sparking out of his hands. "Who cares about handwriting? Are you guys ready for our rematch? 'Cause I'm all fired up!"_

 _Yang leapt to her feet, a hungry grin across her face. Ember Celica deployed into combat mode. "That is the first thing I've understood all morning, pinky. But the others won't need to stress themselves out. I'm gonna keep you all to myself."_

" _Yang! We have limited dust, remember?" Weiss reminded her. "We have to conserve it for when we really need it, not waste it on petty squabbles."_

" _Aw, come on, Weiss. It's just a sparring match," Yang pleaded. "I get to beat him up and he can't complain because he literally asked for it."_

" _He's a wizard! You have no idea what he's capable of!"_

" _Then this is an easy way to find out."_

" _Yang," Blake interjected. Her amber eyes pleaded with her partner. "Not now. Not today. We just got here. Let's get the lay of the land before we pick any fights, even friendly ones."_

 _Yang held Blake's gaze for a moment, but in the end, Ember Celica retracted. She sighed. "Fine. I'll hold off on kicking his ass."_

" _Aw. You sure?" Natsu pleaded. "Drat. I really wanted to see what this dust stuff you guys keep talking about can do."_

 _The black-haired guy, who had taken off his shirt since he'd entered the room, snorted. "It'd probably turn you into dust."_

 _Natsu whirled on him. "You want me to use you for a warm-up, snowman?!"_

" _You couldn't get me above freezing, lizard face!"_

" _Don't you two start in here!" Erza yelled, whirling on her teammates. "This is a place of learning and you will not disrupt our new members' education! Am I understood!?"_

" _Yes, mam!" both boys screeched, their arms hugging each other close in terror._

 _Everyone in the room shuddered. Well, everyone except Ruby and Wendy. The young huntress couldn't speak for the other girl, but while Erza's outburst was truly intimidating, there was something about her force of personality that Ruby couldn't help but admire. She got her teammates back in line without a second of hesitation. While Ruby didn't really have a problem with the way she led her team, she would be the first to admit she lacked a similar commanding aura. Most decisions outside of battle, she usually just left up to a vote, like who they'd have compete in the doubles' round of the Vytal Festival._

 _And, she just remembered that there was no guarantee they'd actually make it back in time for the tournament. Unexpected interdimensional travel sucked._

 _Yang scooted over to Lucy. "Is she always that terrifying?"_

" _Most of the time," the other blonde replied. "Don't worry, expect with Natsu and Gray, she doesn't usually break it out unless someone's getting really rowdy. Which, given this place, is pretty much every day."_

 _Yang gulped. "Okay then. Stay out of the crossfire. Thanks for the tip."_

" _No problem."_

 _Erza coughed into her hand, drawing everyone's attention back to her. "Well, now that that's done with, Lucy, please draw up more… legible copies of these notes for them to study later."_

" _Sure, Erza."_

" _Excellent," the armored woman declared. "Now then, there is one more facet of performing magic that I have not mentioned yet. It is arguably the most crucial component of the entire process."_

 _Team RWBY listened with rapt attention. If the previous spiel had only been the prelude to this element, it must have been a truly complex concept, maybe even more than Weiss Advanced Aura Control stuff._

" _A wizard's feelings."_

 _Weiss blinked mindlessly. "Come again?"_

" _A wizard's feelings!" A voice far more jubilant than Erza's exclaimed._

 _Team RWBY rolled away, their surprise driving them into combat stances, Ruby's hand halfway to Crescent Rose._

 _In the center of their previous huddle stood a girl about Wendy's height, her waves of pale blond hair nearly reaching down to the floor. She wore a light pink dress with a pair of white wings on the top of her head. She grinned at everyone with a smile as radiant as the sun itself._

 _The Fairy Tail members looked unsurprised._

" _Oh, hey First Master," Natsu greeted nonchalantly. "What are you doing here?"_

" _I wanted to see our newest members," the girl explained. "It's so rare we get new family members who we get to teach magic to. It made me so nostalgic for when I learned how to do it, I couldn't help but take a peak. I'm sorry if I couldn't control myself just then."_

" _Not at all," Erza assured her. The armored woman bowed reverently. "It is an honor to have you here, First Master."_

" _Thank you," the blonde turned back to Team RWBY. "A wizard's feelings are the spark to the fuel of ethernano. If you use your care for those around you and know what you are fighting for, you can vastly accelerate your output of magic!"_

" _That's sounds… incredibly vague," Blake noted._

" _And fake," Yang added. "Like something you'd pick up from a health guru. 'Think positively and you'll lose weight' and all that."_

" _There may be something to that," Happy interjected. "Lucy is a very negative person after all."_

" _I hang out with you monsters. I'm not negative, I'm realistic. And I am not fat!" Lucy finished lecturing Happy and turned to Yang. "Though, you shouldn't underestimate the power of a wizard's feelings. It might sound corny, but it's made the difference in a ton of our fights. Heck, we would have all been obliterated on Tenrou Island if the First Master hadn't harnessed our feelings to cast Fairy Sphere."_

" _Really? Obliterated by what?" Yang smirked._

" _The Dragon of the Apocalypse."_

" _Okay, wizard's feelings. Got it," Yang gulped. "Hey, Ruby, have I mentioned how much I love you yet today?"_

" _Aw! I love you too, Yang!"_

 _A bead of sweat dropped from Lucy's forehead. "I don't think that's how it works."_

" _Wait, First Master?" Weiss inquired. "As in, the founder of this entire guild?"_

 _The flighty girl nodded, joyfully holding out a hand. "Mavis Vermillion. It's a pleasure to meet you."_

" _Likewise," Weiss replied politely. "But, forgive me, I was under the impression this guild had been active for quite a while."_

" _It has," Mavis confirmed with a grin. "Over a hundred years."_

" _Oh," Weiss noted. "But Master Makarov is your successor?"_

" _Yup. He is both the Third and Sixth Master."_

 _Ruby leaned into Wendy. "What happened to the Fourth and Fifth?"_

" _They didn't die if that's what you're thinking," Gray cut in. "Macao's still around, but he knew he didn't have the stuff to control the guild and stepped down. Gildarts just left to get drunk and didn't come back."_

" _Bastard was afraid I'd finally beat him," Natsu grumbled._

 _Lucy sighed. "Yeah, sure. That was the reason. Not like he took you down in one punch every other time you challenged him."_

 _Weiss continued to stare at Mavis, confusion plastered across her face. Beside her, Blake shrugged._

" _We don't know the limits of magic in this world," the cat faunus proposed. "It's not too large a stretch to imagine that it can increase one's vitality."_

" _Ooo… you're a smart one," Mavis complimented earnestly. "But while that's true, it isn't the case here. I'm just a spiritual projection, one only Fairy Tail members can see."_

 _Ruby raised an eyebrow. "A spiritual projection?"_

" _She's a ghost," Happy translated._

" _Oh." Ruby's eyes shot up in terror. "Wait, a ghost!"_

 _Yang grinned ferociously. "Oh yeah, now we're talking."_

" _Sure. Ghosts. Why not?" Weiss dryly muttered._

 _Mavis chuckled cutely before rushing up to Ruby, her gaze wide with curiosity. She focused in on her face. "Ooo… this is interesting."_

" _What?" Ruby's hands shot up to her face. "Am I going to turn into a ghost too?"_

" _Oh no, nothing like that," Mavis assured her. "It's just your eyes. They're amazing. I've never seen someone posses organs other than their origin that can hold magic. Especially not Silver Spirit Slayer Magic."_

" _Spirit Slayer?" Lucy murmured. "Like Dragon Slayer or God Slayer?"_

" _Yes," Mavis confirmed. "Except for spirits."_

" _That seems a bit obvious," Blake snarked._

 _Natsu shrugged. "Eh, if it ain't broke…"_

 _Ruby frowned. "Silver Spirit Slayer Magic? When I opened the book, the one that made the portal that brought us here, everything went white. The others said my eyes shot out this silver light into the book, almost like they were powering it."_

" _Mmm…" Mavis hummed. "There is certainly enough magic energy stored up in there to power a device such as that, at least in some limited capacity, but it would have to be made specifically to accept that kind of magic. Whoever sent you that book knew about your abilities."_

" _How?" Ruby wondered. "_ _ **I**_ _didn't even know about them."_

" _Maybe the device itself can provide some clue," Erza suggested. "Did the book have a title or any markings on it?"_

" _It was called 'Fairies of the Shattered Moon'," Ruby recalled. "And on the cover, there was a star above some creepy eye thing with a pair of hammers crossed under it."_

" _Crossed hammers?" Erza muttered._

" _Fairies?" Lucy squeaked._

 _Gray's eyes narrowed. "Sounds like whoever made that book meant for you guys to end up here."_

" _How?" Yang wondered. "If they're from Remnant, how the heck could they know about you guys?"_

" _Isn't it obvious?" Natsu queried. "If they've got a way to send you guys to this world, they've probably got a way to go back and forth themselves."_

" _Oh my gosh!" Happy exclaimed. "Natsu said something smart!"_

" _I'm always smart!"_

" _Annnnd, now he's back to being dumb."_

" _It is a possibility," Mavis noted, ignoring Natsu and Happy's argument. "But if they needed the full power of these eyes, and their world lacks widespread magic, then acquiring the necessary energy to reliably travel the dimensions would be quite difficult."_

 _Erza hummed. She went over to the blackboard and drew a pair of crossed hammers. "Ruby, was this one of the symbols on the book?"_

 _Gray and Lucy's eyes widened at the symbol now on the board, shock and terror written across their faces._

" _Yes!" Ruby cheered. "That's exactly it! Those are the crossed hammers!"_

 _Weiss cocked an eyebrow. "How did you know how to draw that?"_

" _A theory," Erza scowled. Her fist clenched around her chalk stick. "perhaps whoever created the book does not possess a reliable means of traveling to this world but does have a way to communicate with allies they came into contact with on some initial incursion. Your mention of crossed hammers reminded me of a certain organization of this world. This is their emblem."_

" _That's great," Yang cheered. "That means we just need to find these guys, beat them up, and make them give us a way home."_

" _Perhaps something a little more tasteful, but it's a good enough plan," Blake concurred. "What's this organization?"_

" _The most powerful dark guild in the kingdom," Erza declared gravely. "Tartaros."_

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

"Uh, guys," Jaune interrupted. He pointed outside the window, where night had fallen across Vale. "Not that this isn't incredibly interesting, but it's getting late and you kind of got away from the whole ''how you learned magic' thing."

"Yeah! You can tell us about your ultimate battle of ultimate destiny with the forces of evil later! We want to know how you guys became wizards!" Nora demanded. She crossed her arms and leered at Team RWBY. "Unless your magic is making us miss our bedtime so that we're all tired for the Vytal Festival."

"But we were building context!" Ruby whined. "We can't just tell you guys what our magic is? Where's the gravitas in that?"

"Sorry Ruby," Pyrrha apologized. A short yawn escaped her lips that she barely managed to politely cover with her hand. "But we all have the tournament tomorrow. We're representing Beacon, so we have to be at our best. Perhaps the short version is best for now."

Yang smirked. She leaned back against the beds and crossed her hands behind her head. "Or we could just show you guys when we face you in the tournament, add a little spice to the mix, give the crowd a good show, you know? Besides, you guys are probably the only ones we'll need it against."

"That sounds like a cop out," Nora accused. A smug, taunting smile crossed her face. "I bet you guys don't even know magic. You probably weren't even in another dimension."

"Nora, we saw them fall out of a portal."

"Smoke and mirrors, Ren. Smoke and mirrors."

"Nora, we all know it wasn't smoke and mirrors," Jaune stated. "No one would ever fall for that kind of taunt—"

" _Requip!_ " Ruby shouted, her hand held out before her.

A brilliant white light flashed, forcing each member of Team JNPR to shield their eyes. When they opened them once more, their mouths dropped.

In Ruby's grip, where there had very obviously been nothing before, now resided a magnificent crimson and gray scimitar.

The leader of Team RWBY smirked. "Still think it was smoke and mirrors now?"

"Woah!" Nora zipped forward, reverently gazing upon the new weapon as if it were a stack of freshly made pancakes. "You just made it appear out of thin air! What is this thing?"

"This is Waxing Petal," Ruby declared with pride. "It's actually just a really strong sword. After Erza taught me Requip Magic, I started making as many weapons as I could at the guild forge. Now that I finally can carry every weapon into battle, why shouldn't I? Erza suggested I make some armor as well, but I have something special in mind for that that's taking a bit longer than I thought it would to work out. Still, when I show it to her, it's going to blow her socks…off."

Ruby's grin disappeared, the red reaper's face morphing into an expression of melancholy.

"Uh, everything okay, Ruby?" Jaune inquired.

"We're back," Ruby stated simply. She pushed up the sleeve of her right arm, revealing a larger tattoo above her guild mark, still red, but with a more stretched out version of the Fairy Tail emblem surrounded by some sort of arrowhead. "Mavis… she gave me this and she told me the others would be watching over us wherever we were but… Wendy and I were going to make cookies next week, and Erza was going to show me how to pick the best strawberries, and Alzack and Bisca and me were going to finally see which one of us was the best shot in the guild and…"

Yang immediately leapt up and engulfed her little sister in a hug. "Hey, hey, hey, it's okay sis, it's okay. We've still got the book. We just need to figure out how to get it to work when we want it to and we can pop back and forth for a visit whenever we want. And if we can't… then it doesn't matter. You know what Gramps was always saying. No matter where we are, no matter how far apart, our friends are with us forever."

Ruby sniffled, but she managed a soft smile at Yang.

Jaune awkwardly cleared his throat. "Hey, Ruby, the training arena should still be open. Do you want to show us what that new sword of yours can do?"

"Yeah!" Nora cheered, her gaze locked on her friend's emotional state. "It's probably the awesomest thing since pancakes. Which means Magnhild is still better."

Ruby chuckled. She wiped her red eyes with her arm, rolling her sleeve back down as she did so. A competitive grin came onto her face. "In your dreams, Nora. Your hammer may be amazing, but it's not gonna be enough."

"Big talk from a little girl."

"Little?"

Nora laughed and dashed out of the room, Ruby playfully following behind. The red reaper could have easily run the other girl down with her semblance, so it was clear to the others that everything was fine. Still, they had to make sure they didn't destroy the school on the eve of an international event, so Yang, Jaune, and Ren quickly gave chase.

Pyrrha made to join them but turned back to Weiss and Blake when she reached the door. "Are you two not coming?"

Weiss shook her head. "Our energy isn't as boundless as our teammates. I think we need a bit of a break from hooligans who think breaking everything in sight is a way to wind down."

Pyrrha cringed. "Fair enough. I'll try to keep them from getting out of hand."

"You'd be the first," Blake mused.

"Maybe. Have a good night guys," Pyrrha said. "And I know it wasn't that long on our end, but it's good to have you back."

Weiss smiled. "Thank you, Pyrrha. Good night."

The Invincible Girl nodded and left the room.

Blake drifted over to the window, her eyes locked on the night sky and its occupants. "I'd nearly forgotten how it looked shattered. I'm going to miss full moons actually being full."

Weiss walked over to her bed and picked up the book that had sent them to Earthland. Even with the auspicious symbols on its cover, it was hard to believe such a simple looking thing had the power to cross dimensions, even if they now had a somewhat better understanding of how.

"Do you feel it?" the white-haired girl asked her teammate.

Blake nodded. "I thought it was just the aftermath of the portal, but that cleared up already."

"Then Ruby's requip proves it," Weiss declared, coming to stand beside her friend at the window. "There is ethernano in the air. There is ethernano on Remnant. Which means…"

"Magic is possible here," Blake finished. "Maybe it was always possible here and we just didn't know how to see it. If the capability has always been here, someone in history must have figured out how to do it. Heck, Ruby's eyes are proof that some power has been here for a while."

"As well as the fact that someone got the book to us," Weiss noted. "Sitara certainly didn't do it."

"There is some sort of time discrepancy between the worlds. Maybe Tartaros will steal it from her in the future and send it to whoever their ally is over here in the past," Blake theorized.

"Argh!" Weiss groaned. "It is way too late for this mess. Let's enjoy a night in our own beds before we try to figure out the mechanics of crossing dimensions."

Blake smirked. "I can agree to that."

Weiss smiled back. "How are you feeling, by the way? Your magic doesn't work like the rest of ours. How much power do you have left from Loke's last recharge?"

Blake held up her hand and curled it into a fist. A soft golden glow emanated from her arm.

"Not much," she surmised. "I've got enough to make a big flash if I really need it, but otherwise I'm back to just being a normal huntress."

Weiss grinned slyly. "Well, that shouldn't be too much of a problem, at least for now. After all, the only people competing in the Vytal Festival _are_ normal huntresses."

Blake frowned disapprovingly. "You're planning to cheat with our magic to win the Vytal Festival, aren't you?"

"It's not cheating! It's our power!"

"That no one else had a chance to gain."

"I spent six months naked on Mt. Hakobe with a crazy water wizard out for my head! I earned this!"

"You also befriended said water wizard, and Gray was naked that whole time as well."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Blake smirked. " _Suure_ , you don't."

"Just… Just… Just go read your smut, furball."

* * *

 **In the past, Team RWBY learns the basics of magic, but will Team Natsu be able to stop them from going after foes way out of their league?**

 **In the present, Weiss and Blake try to sort out various revelations of their trip and return, while Ruby reveals her magic learned under the Queen of the Fairies herself.**

 **Team RWBY's magic will be revealed steadily over time, each girl likely getting their own chapter to both learn it in the past and reveal it in the present.**

 **A huge thank you to my patrons: ArcherMcMuffin, Gregg Tracton, Keith Traction and Cool guy.**

 **Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!**

 **Go Forth and Conquer!**


	4. Chapter 3

**The chapter of October is here... in November. *Sigh***

 **Apologies for the lateness, real life got hectic. Fortunately though, my weekly series 'RWBY Zero' is on hiatus for the next month, so the actual chapter of November will be on time.**

 **In the menatime, Enjoy!**

 **If you wish to support me, please check out my P a treon for future chapter summaries, story ideas and more: p a Treon.(c om) (backslash) themaster4444**

* * *

"And a little to the left. Left. I said left, Jaune!"

"Your left or my left?"

"My left! I'm the one saying left!"

"Okay, sorry! I was confused! That good?"

"Perfect! Thank you!"

Ruby grinned as she hammered the red-hot metal, the small individual sheets of steel fusing together with each strike. Jaune, wearing thick blacksmith's gloves just like her, gripped the burning carcass tight, pushing it over the edge of her anvil bit by bit, allowing her to beat the item into the vague shape of a wing.

As awesome as Fairy Tail's facilities had been, Ruby couldn't help but be thankful to be back in Beacon's forge. Earthland may have had magic, but its absence on Remnant had forced the Kingdoms to develop technology to match anything charged by ethernano. Except for that whole 'coming back from the dead' system that Lucy had mentioned, the one Erza's brainwashed boyfriend tried to sacrifice her on. They didn't have anything like that.

Still, advancements in technology had made metallurgy a far easier process on Remnant than the other world. And though Ruby had made do, Erza's skills at forging armor were far weaker than her dexterity at using it. There was a reason she purchased most of her arsenal.

That said, the Queen of the Fairies was far from clueless about the process. She had to check that she wasn't be sold fake gear, after all, her friends' lives might depend on her armaments in the field. She'd taught Ruby about the basics of installing magic functions into armor, something Ruby had taken glee in experimenting with, especially after Kagura had come over from Mermaid Heel to give her a few tips. Unfortunately, enchanting every molecule of the metal was a time-consuming affair, another reason Erza had normally left it to the professionals.

But Ruby had always loved creating weapons, even before she'd pounded out Crescent Rose at Signal. More than a few of her peers had come to her for advice when they were constructing their own partners. The Red Reaper herself had wanted to go into battle wielding every sword, knife, gun, ax, spear, and more under the sun. She'd just lacked any feasible way of carrying them all into battle, and given she mostly relied on speed in combat, weighing herself down was a bad plan.

But now that she had Requip…

She still drooled every time she remembered how awesome being a wizard was.

Most of her new gear were just really good weapons, but she had been working on a special project for a few months before the gang had returned home. And with Beacon's high tech forge, and Jaune to help position the material, she'd be finished the final structuring in no time. All she would need to do was magical imbue the many, _many,_ things she'd want the armor to do into the crimson steel. Still quite the time suck, but with the structure nearly finished, she'd been able to implant the basics, which would give her a nice speed boost.

Of course, making it was a little less fun now that she'd never get to show it off to Erza, Wendy and everyone else. The others may have cheered her up the other night, but the scarlet guildmark under her glove was still a heavy reminder of what she'd given up to come home, the tattoo just above even more so.

She finished beating the metal wing, the scaling bending subtly over the side. She quickly replaced her hammer with a pair of sturdy tongs. Jaune released his grip on the armor, and she dunked her project into a massive tank of water. Steam rushed off the scarlet steel as the metal was rapidly and forcibly cooled, its majestic shape solidifying.

Jaune waved his hand in front of the wave of heat, an uneasy smirk across his face. "Is there supposed to be that much?"

Ruby chuckled. "Considering it's going from 'hot enough to glue your fingers together' to 'will just burn you a bit' in the space of a few seconds? Yes. Yes, there is. Which you'd know, if you let me upgrade _your_ gear, Mr. didn't forge his own weapon."

Jaune thrust up his hands defensively, though the affable grin across his face let her know he wasn't really offended. "Hey, my parents are going to kill me enough when I finally see them again. I'd rather not have 'defacing a family heirloom' added to the list of charges."

"Chicken."

"Crater Face."

"Vomit Boy."

Both team leaders broke out into a round of laughter and the haze over Ruby's mind evaporated.

Yes, she had lost her Fairy Tail friends. But she'd gained back Jaune, Pyrrha, her dad, Uncle Qrow, and the rest of her friends and family on Remnant. A boon that her guildmates had fought tooth and nail to help her regain. She shouldn't dishonor that hard work by moping about what she had lost.

Besides, like Yang had said, even if they couldn't figure out how to get the book to work again, no matter where they were, their friends would be watching over them.

She and Jaune replaced their protective gear in the public storage and strode out into the halls.

The Vytal Festival would be starting in a couple hours, so they needed to handle whatever they needed to before they hopped on a Bullhead for Amity. Thankfully, with Weiss and Pyrrha present, neither Team RWBY nor JNPR had left any crucial matters for the last minute. All that was left to do was to grab a quick lunch before getting ready for action.

"So," Jaune began nervously. "How are you guys settling back in? I can't imagine I was your first choice to ask for forging help."

"Oh, come on Jaune, you were my first friend here. Why wouldn't I call you for help?"

"Because you literally just said a few minutes ago that I had no clue what I'm doing in a forge."

"True," Ruby confessed as the two arrived in the cafeteria, taking their place at the end of the short line. "Weiss is triple checking with Miss. Goodwitch that we didn't miss any surprise registration forms for the tournament. Yang is calling dad and making sure he's not freaking out about not hearing from us. And Blake is in the library looking for info on the book. But you are my friend. And remember, for me, it's been six months since I last saw you. I really did just want to hang out."

"Oh." Jaune cringed. "I guess that does make sense."

"Just a bit." Ruby smiled. Wendy was certainly amazing to be around, but Ruby had to be a bit careful how she teased her, lest it come off as mean and Carla give her an earful. There were no such worries with Jaune, who, at least with her, could give as good as he got. The pair were two different flavors of amazing friends, one a soft breeze to cool you off and the other a solid (ish) wall to help keep you sharp.

Speaking of flavors, was it strange to say she'd missed artificial flavors? Back on Earthland, magic had made making things all natural a lot cheaper, so there weren't any fancy chemicals in food. But darn it! None of the real stuff had tasted as good as the fake stuff!

Except for the strawberries. She didn't know where Erza had gotten those, but they were to die for. Or you know, figure out a way to cross dimensions for.

The pair of team leaders threw their artificially processed cafeteria food onto their recyclable trays and grabbed a table near the window.

"So," Ruby started, tossing a grape into her mouth. "What have you guys been doing the last few days?"

"Other than looking for you? Not much," Jaune shrugged. "Miss Goodwitch held an assembly for all the competing teams, gave a fair play speech, don't attack your opponent after the match, basically don't be a jerk on live television. You know, common sense."

"You made sure Nora listened, right?"

"I made Ren do it. He's better at it."

"Hooray for delegating."

"Leader power," Jaune faked cheered. He stuffed a bite of a BLT into his mouth. "After that, we had a team meeting and I made sure we were clear on midbattle signals. Team attacks and stuff like that."

Ruby smirked. "Are you still using Flower Power for Ren and Nora's?"

"His emblem is a flower and Nora hits things really hard. I don't see how it could possibly be confusing."

"On its own, it's great," Ruby conceded. She raised a finger. "But, you're also using that weird name mixing thing for you and Pyrrha's."

"What's wrong with Arkos?"

"Nothing," Ruby assured him. "But together they're going be confusing. Fighting style metaphors or name fusions, Jaune. You've got to keep your name themes consistent."

Jaune cocked an eyebrow. "So, what? I should call Flower Power… I don't know. Renora? That'll never catch on."

"Alright," Ruby smirked. She folded her arms behind her head and leaned back. "I'm just saying, Team RWBY never mixes up Freezerburn, Ice Flower, Checkmate, _or_ Ladybu— Aaahhh!"

The red hooded huntress went too far back and plummeted out of her seat, her cloak flopping over her head.

Jaune chuckled. "Oh yeah. Teach me, o tactical mastermind."

Ruby flipped her cloak out of her face, a pearly white grin shining as bright as her silver eyes.

"Well, not even the best of us are perfect," she giggled, clamoring back to her seat. Her face lit up with a memory. "Our first night on Earthland, we actually thought it'd be a good idea to go after Tartaros ourselves. Ha! We barely knew how to take in ethernano, and we thought we were going to take on the king of all dark guilds."

Jaune didn't join in on her laughter. In fact, his smile disappeared, and his expression became rather pensive. He placed his sandwich down on his plate.

Ruby frowned. "Jaune? Hey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. It's nothing." He shook his head. "Just… magic works here, right? In this world?"

Ruby cautiously nodded. "Yeah. I wouldn't have been able to requip if it didn't."

"So, that means, in theory, if one were to be taught how to… do magic, they could…"

Ruby smirked, her eyebrow rising in a distinctly Yang way. "Jaune Arc, are you asking me to teach you magic?"

The blonde huntsman cringed. "It's not why you think."

"You don't want to learn it because it's awesome?"

"Okay, it's part of why you think," Jaune confessed. He nervously rubbed the back of his head. "Look, I don't know if you know, but ever since that incident in Forever Fall last semester, the one with Cardin, Pyrrha has been giving me… extra combat training."

"I know."

"What?"

"Nora followed you guys to the roof and then told everyone."

Jaune scowled. "If there wasn't a tournament going on, I'd have Ren dock her pancakes."

"Ha! Nice try. He's not brave enough to let you delegate that one."

"True." Jaune sighed. "Anyway, Pyrrha actually offered to train me before that happened. But I turned her down."

Ruby had to blink to make sure she'd heard him right. "You turned down training from Pyrrha? As in, 'the only person not a fully trained huntsman or that ice cream girl who can kick Yang's butt' Pyrrha? Why? Jaune, I don't want to be mean or anything, but at the beginning of the year you kind of… well…"

"Sucked."

"…Yeah."

"I know," he agreed. "Heck, I knew back then. I knew I wasn't up to snuff, but I had this stupid idea in my head that being a huntsman wouldn't be real unless I did it on my own."

"Yeah, that is pretty silly," Ruby concurred. "I mean, they literally put us into teams."

"I was a dumbass and a jerk," Jaune continued. "But then, the thing with Cardin and my talk with you happened and I realized… well, that I'm not allowed to do that. I'm not allowed to stay weak because of some stupid pride. If my team is going to rely on me, then I have to take every chance I can to get strong enough to support them."

Ruby smiled proudly. "We're not allowed to fail."

"Exactly!" Jaune exclaimed. "Pyrrha has been an absolutely amazing teacher. In less than a year, she's turned me from… well, me, into something half resembling one of your guys. With her help, I think I might be able to really hold my own by the time we get out of Beacon. But, if the Breach proved anything, it's that the Grimm aren't going to wait that long. I need to get stronger now. I'm not looking for a shortcut, but if magic can help—"

"Stop," Ruby held up her hand, a wide grin on her face. "Of course I'll help. I'd love to teach you."

Jaune let out a long sigh of relief. "Thank you, Ruby."

"Hey, what are friends for?"

"Teaching us as well?"

Both Ruby and Jaune whirled down the table. Standing with trays piled high with food were a sheepish Pyrrha, an exasperated Ren, and Nora with a grin entirely too large even for her plastered across her face.

"What?" Nora asked boldly, plopping her treasure trove of pizza down beside the two leaders. "Did you think we were gonna _not_ wanna learn _magic_?"

Jaune's eyes widened. "Ho… how much of that did you guys here?"

"Everything after Ruby fell off her chair," Ren answered simply.

Pyrrha blushed. "I'm glad you've found me such a good teacher."

Jaune sighed and smacked his head into his half-eaten BLT.

Ruby narrowed her eyes at the still grinning Nora. "You do realize that even if I teach you guys how to absorb ethernano tonight, there's no way you can catch up to our level before the tournament's over?"

"Maybe," Nora teased. "Maybe not. You guys aren't the only prodigies in this school. But if you're too chicken…"

Even Ruby could tell she was being baited. After learning to take in ethernano, magic was mostly about figuring out your specialty and expanding that to your preference, a process that, while time-consuming to perfect, was simple to begin. There was no reason to give Team JNPR a leg up in the tournament when she could just wait a few days and teach them then.

But… the whole thing was going to be kind of boring if they steamrolled everyone with magic.

"Training starts tonight."

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

 _Tonight was the night._

 _Tonight, they were going to find this Tartaros guild and use Plan 7 on them. Also known as 'throw Yang at them until they give up'._

 _Before they could do that though, they needed to sneak out of Fairy Hills. A task that had proved far easier said than done._

 _The guild's girls' dormitory was hardly a fortress but, for some reason, their plans kept failing before they could start. Throwing a rope out the window like Ruby and Yang (mostly Yang) had done whether they'd wanted to sneak off to Vale after bedtime? The line had gone up in a shower of purple flames before they could even start climbing down. Using Blake's expert White Fang training to try to crawl through the air vents? They were clogged with freaking swords! Eventually, they'd finally had to give into Weiss' plan, one that spoke of nonexistent experience sneaking out of a house._

 _Which was how they found themselves in the building's living room preparing to literally walk out the front door._

" _See. There is no need to overcomplicate matters." Weiss declared smugly. "The door is right there. It's unlocked. There is no reason to come up with elaborate schemes."_

" _To be fair, we tried climbing down a window and crawling through air vents," Blake recounted. "I wouldn't exactly call either of those 'elaborate'."_

" _Yeah, Ice Queen. We didn't even get to the chicken or the shadow puppets," Yang shot back._

 _Weiss raised an eyebrow. "Shadow puppets? You must be joking."_

" _No, that was actually one of our better schemes," Ruby declared. "Yang would light up her hair and I'd use the flames to make shadow puppets to fake out dad."_

" _You know how to make shadow puppets!" Wendy exclaimed excitedly. "That's amazing!"_

" _Aw, it's nothing really. I could never really get the bird down well enough to fool Uncle Qrow—"_

 _All of Team RWBY suddenly froze. The huntresses' eyes widened and locked onto the blue haired girl that had appeared in their midst._

" _Wendy!" Ruby chirped, only to get immediately shushed by Weiss. She continued in a soft whisper. "Wendy, what are you doing here? You should be in bed."_

" _Oh, I was." The Sky Dragon Slayer assured them. "But then Erza woke me up because she needed Carla for something. She said I could stay down here until they were done, even though it's after lights out."_

" _What could that scary woman need a cat for?" Yang asked absentmindedly._

" _For this."_

 _Their heads all whipped around to living room area of the lobby, with multiple chairs, a television-like lacrima, and a fluffy couch. One of said chairs, a new black leather seat on a swivel, slowly turned to reveal its occupant: a scowling Erza Scarlet, clothed in a long black nightgown, stroking the head of a disgruntled white cat._

" _Is this really what you needed me for?" Carla growled._

" _Of course. Dramatically revealing yourself on a chair is always made more intimidating when holding a white cat," Erza declared bombastically. "It is a true actor of the theatre that understands the unison of their props!"_

" _I am not a prop!"_

" _Um, Ms. Erza," Ruby stuttered. Whether Carla had been a factor or not, that chair reveal had been really scary. The rest of her team was even hiding their faces in their hands, Weiss even repeatedly smacking her forehead to get the terrifying sight out of her memory. "Does this mean we're caught?"_

 _Erza let Carla return to Wendy, standing from her chair. Her gaze over the huntresses was firm but understanding. "You are. I've been head girl for a long time. I can sight a curfew breaker from a mile away. Though, I'll admit, you came here far sooner than I thought you would. I anticipated you to at least try the sewers before you went for the front door. I'll have to let Juvia know she can come out."_

" _Juvia?" Weiss inquired. "That blue-haired water girl?"_

" _Erza promised her one of Gray's socks if she helped," a new voice informed them. Mira stepped in from the main entrance, cutting off any of hope of Team RWBY making a break for it. She flashed the huntresses a dainty smile. "I just thought it'd be fun."_

" _Lovely," Blake groaned. She whirled on Erza. "Look, we're grateful that you're willing to shelter us, but we can't stay here. Now that we have a lead, we don't have any time to lose."_

" _Yeah, we've got to track down those crossed hammer guys," Ruby insisted._

" _Tartaros," Erza corrected. Her bombast was gone, replaced by a cold, harsh seriousness. "Seven years ago, they were considered the second most powerful dark guild in the kingdom. Since then, they have thrived in the power vacuum created by the defeat of Grimoire Heart, the one force considered to be their superior."_

" _So?" Yang asked. "They're hot stuff. Big deal."_

" _Very big deal," Wendy pleaded with them. "Grimoire Heart attacked Fairy Tail's strongest on our most sacred site, an island that granted us immortality and boosted our magic power, and even then, they nearly wiped us out. If Tartaros has grown even stronger than them, you won't stand a chance."_

 _Ruby smiled at the blue-haired girl. "Don't worry, Wendy. We've taken on some pretty bad people back on Remnant and… well… it wasn't perfect, but we won in the end. We can totally handle these Tartaros guys."_

 _Wendy didn't look reassured. Even Mira had a worried frown on her face._

 _Erza crossed her arms, her glare unabated from the huntresses. "You four have barely learned how to take in ethernano, much less strengthen yourselves with it. You'll only have your aura and your weapons."_

" _That's what we've always had," Weiss declared. "And as Ruby said, it hasn't been perfect, but we've done well enough so far."_

" _Well enough won't cut in. Not against a Baram Alliance guild," Erza countered. "You have no idea what you're walking into."_

" _With all due respect Ms. Erza, you have no idea what we can do," Blake replied._

 _Ruby nodded. They'd clobbered hordes of Grimm. They'd demolished an Atlesian Paladin, one of the most powerful weapons in the world. They'd taken down Roman Torchwick and contained the onslaught of the Breach. No matter the odds, they always came through._

 _Erza hummed, a hand rising to rub her chin. "That is true. Despite what we have told each other, none of us have seen the others in combat."_

" _Precisely," Weiss said. "So, please, trust that we know what we're doing."_

" _You are members of Fairy Tail now. I have full faith in you." A hungry grin painted across Erza's face. "However, I still think it would be best to have… a demonstration."_

 _All of Team RWBY gulped under the Titania's gaze, her piercing brown eyes harder and more withering than any blade._

 _Ruby stepped forward. "What exactly do you have in mind?"_

 _Erza turned to Mira, who smiled back in turn. "Natsu?"_

" _He did want a rematch."_

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

"There you are," Weiss screeched as Ruby dashed down the hall of Amity Coliseum. "Where have you been? The match is about to start."

"Sorry." Her team leader replied. "I was double checking something at the armory. How was I supposed to know we'd be fighting so soon?"

Weiss sighed, but Ruby did have a point. The matches for the Vytal Festival were randomized, so she had no way of knowing they would be called up for the first battle. Still, they'd all been ready to go just in case. She, Blake, and Yang had been waiting in the entrance tunnel for nearly five minutes, the hum of the crowd quieting every second. Any longer and they would have been disqualified for holding up the tournament.

"It's fine," the heiress waved off. She suddenly stood up straighter than ever. "I can't believe this is happening!"

Blake cocked an eyebrow. "That we're fighting in the tournament or that we made it in time after spending six months in another dimension?"

"Both!" Weiss cheered.

She wasn't normally so exuberant over something that ultimately didn't matter in their huntress careers, but she just couldn't help herself. After Winter had left for Atlas Academy, all she'd heard was that her sister would come crawling back soon enough, that such a delicate and pampered girl would never be able to make it as a huntress. Even, if she'd wanted her big sibling to come home and resume her role as a buffer against father… well, being father, the whispers had hurt, knowing that they were all doomed to be eternally imprisoned in Jacques Schnee's false shadow.

And then Winter had won her first Vytal Festival and the whispers went silent. She had proved that, Schnee or not, pampered or not, she had what it took to stand with the best of the best from all across Remnant. To stand on her own. To make her own legacy.

More than anything, Weiss wanted that. To prove to the world that she was not bound to the mockery her father had made of her family. To prove that her name was hers.

"Eeeee!"

The rest of her team looked at her in horror.

"Weiss, you're _squeeing_ ," Ruby noted. "Are you feeling okay? Did Juvia poison you before we left?"

"What?" Weiss gasped, shocked out of her trance. "No, you dolt. Juvia would never poison me."

Yang rolled her eyes. "Yeah, beat you to a pulp, toss you off a cliff, or throw you in the middle of one of Natsu and Gray's grudge matches, sure, but poison? No, never."

Weiss crossed her arms and pouted. "She only threw me off a cliff once. And she did pull me back up."

"Well, you didn't get thrown off that cliff for nothing, Weiss!" Ruby cheered. "Because Team RWBY is about to become the first every team of wizard huntresses to steamroll a Vytal Festival!"

"Yeah!" Yang pumped her fist. Blake merely shook her head in resignation.

But Weiss… Weiss lowered her eyes.

"Actually Ruby, I was wondering," she slowly began. "Maybe we could… not use our magic."

The entirety of her team raised their eyebrows at her.

"Huh?" Ruby muttered.

"What brought this on?" Blake inquired. "Last night you were all set to bulldoze the competition."

"Yes, and then _you_ pointed out the serious flaw in my logic," Weiss confessed. "While we trained hard for this power, the other students haven't exactly had the same opportunity. While it wouldn't be cheating, it would be somewhat… dishonorable. And I want to win this tournament without any regrets."

Blake smiled proudly at the heiress. "That's admirable, Weiss. I'm in."

"You're also the only one of us that isn't fully charged," Yang reminded her partner. The blonde reluctantly shrugged. "Still, I'll go for it. Seems a shame not to let the world see the full awesomeness of Yang Xiao-Long, but I'm alright with holding back. Unless, you know, someone really presses me, in which case I'm flash frying them."

Weiss sighed. "At least try to hold out until the singles round."

"No promises."

"Hehehe…" Ruby nervously chuckled. When Weiss glared at her, she nervously rubbed the back of her head. "Weiss, I think it's great that you're trying to be fair and all and I'm totally for it… but, we may need to rescind that if we get matched against Team JNPR."

Blake cocked an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Because Nora will go on a rampage if she thinks we're patronizing her."

Weiss barely had time to sigh, though she could see the logic in her partner's point. Team JNPR were the only ones aware of their mystical abilities and while they would not begrudge the girls if the other teams couldn't push them hard enough to require their magic, they knew _they_ could. Putting aside Jaune's combat capabilities, he was one of the few tacticians that had demonstrated the talent to match his pieces with Ruby. And when two of those pieces were the Invincible Girl and a hammer wielder that consumed _far_ too much sugar, it was a toss up which of their teams would win with standard huntsmen training. RWBY's magic, however, would easily tip the balance. Thus, their sister team, especially Nora and Pyrrha, would take it as an insult if they held back in the face of victory.

Fortunately, a quick glance at the arena's viewscreen revealed that their current opponents were just some Shade team called ABRN. Perhaps they would prove to a dark horse capable of taking Team RWBY to their limits but if they weren't, there was no need to get all worked up. The team quickly strode out to the center of the stadium, the crowd roaring upon their arrival. The location wheels began to spin to decide the fight's setting.

"I have no issue keeping the pancake monster in check," Weiss relented, drawing Myrtenaster. "Who knows? Pyrrha might even be able to outmaneuver us regardless."

"Ha! Like we 'outmaneuvered' Natsu?" Yang laughed. "Don't get me wrong, Pyrrha's awesome. But when there's nowhere to dodge, there's nowhere to dodge. And I'm going to bring the heat!"

She emphasized her final declaration with a vigorous double cock of Ember Celica. Something that would have been a lot more intimidating if the shotgun chambers hadn't sounded with a clearly _empty_ hiss.

Everyone's eyes instantly widened. Weiss' gaze darted down to her sword's revolving chamber, where the telltale rainbow of dust was conspicuously absent. A panicked glance at Blake confirmed that she was similarly freaking out over an inspection of Gambol Shroud.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," Ruby moaned, Crescent Rose leaned over her shoulders. "Did you guys forget to _reload_?"

"We ran out of dust months ago and then we just… you know… didn't use it," Yang tried to answer. "When did you do it?"

"What do you think I was doing in the armory?!"

Normally, Weiss would be torn between praising Ruby for her thoughtful remembrance and kicking herself for her lack thereof. In this case, there was a bit more to it than a usual slip of a mind though. After their limited dust supply had run out in Earthland, they had focused almost exclusively on their magic and mixing that with their semblances whenever they could. Amongst the chaos of their return to Remnant, they simply hadn't thought of their new supply. A mistake that would make it difficult to triumph over Team ABRN as conventional huntresses.

"Ready?" Professor Port's voice thundered across the coliseum. "Three. Two. One."

"Ruby?"

"Yup, honor starts next round."

"Go!"

"FREEZERBURN!" Ruby commanded instantly, letting loose a flurry of shots to keep ABRN at distance.

At the same time, Weiss kneeled and slammed her palms into the ground, a cascade of pitch-black ice erupting to coat the floor of the arena. Yang leapt into the air and crashed down to the new glacial surface with a fist of brilliant pink flames. When the demonic heat of hell's finest brimstone met the purest frost of the divine, a cloud of pure darkness surged across the field, blinding the team from Vacuo.

Team RWBY, on the other hand, had magic, part of which was sensing the location and strength of other magic and similar energies. Such as say, aura.

Suffice to say, the match was over before the steam had cleared. True, the audience hadn't gotten much of a show, but hey, they got a chance to see just how efficient huntsmen were and, unknowingly, just how powerful magic could be.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

" _Erza, why are you doing this?" Lucy questioned._

 _The entirety of Fairy Tail's strongest team, plus Mira, stood atop the walls of Magnolia Canyon, the area where the guild traditionally held their yearly race. Now, under a blanket of stars, it played host to a more brutish contest._

 _Team RWBY panted hard as they faced down Natsu, a few scant soot marks peppering their skin from where they just weren't fast enough to dodge the flames. Their weapons were still held out strong before them, but every now and then they would sag. In contrast, the Salamander was grinning like a madman, vibrant flames alight around his fists and the only noticeable wound being a deep purple bruise across his cheek, a consequence of trying to consume the flames spawned by Yang's hair and catching some of the mane itself in his mouth. Suffice to say, that had been the only moment when Erza had wondered if the huntresses from another world would actually be able to claim victory._

 _Alas, the moment had passed and her prediction was back on track shortly after._

" _These girls are in our care, Lucy," the Titania declared. "The moment they took on our guildmark, they became our family, members of Fairy Tail. And we cannot let our family go after the most powerful dark guild in the kingdom without any idea what they'd be getting into."_

" _Uh, yeah, I get that part," Lucy sighed, a bead of sweat dropping from her brow. "I was asking why you had to wake the rest of us up to watch. You guys break into my house so much I barely get enough beauty sleep as it is. It takes downtime to maintain this figure."_

" _Or you could just stop gaining weight."_

" _Shut up, you stupid cat."_

 _Gray pensively observed the battle below. "Honestly, they're doing better than I thought they would. These days, Natsu can put most people out with one punch."_

" _This aura of theirs is impressive," Mira noted. "Most mages learn how to use magic to boost their physical capabilities, but it isn't usually to this great an extent. I'd say these four could win in a fight with a good chunk of the people from the Grand Magic Games, Yang especially. She could probably go one on one with Elfman."_

 _Gray nodded. "Maybe beat him too."_

" _What?" Mira stuttered. "No, she couldn't. Sure, she'd probably give him a good fight but my little brother would pull through in the end."_

" _With that trick of hers, what did they call it, a semblance? With whatever that is, she'd probably be able to take him."_

 _Mira froze in an alabaster pleasant smile. Then she turned away and instantly started crying. Gray jumped up and tried to comfort her, Wendy and Carla right behind him._

" _Man, Gray is such a jerk, isn't he?" Happy remarked. "Talking about Elfman like that right in front of Mira."_

" _That doesn't mean he's wrong," Lucy pointed out, walking forward to be even with Erza. Down below, Ruby shouted something about a ladybug and she and Blake sprang forward, dodging a Fire Dragon's Roar to flank Natsu on both sides. "They are stronger than we'd thought they'd be with no magic. Me, Elfman, even Wendy, they could probably beat all of us."_

 _Natsu thrust out his hands and caught each of the huntresses' weapons in his grip, his experience from dueling Erza allowing him to halt the flats between his fingers before the blades could reach his palms. A trail of flames surged out from his arms and he whipped both girls around in a vicious spiral._

" **Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!** "

 _Ruby and Blake went flying back into the walls of the canyon, the rockface splintering upon their impact._

 _Natus grinned, the sparks of his assault flying behind him, lighting the Fire Dragon Slayer with a demonic glow. Despite that, his smile was nothing less than jubilant. "Alright! You guys are great! I don't know why you want to leave so soon. You'd love it at the guild."_

 _Yang and Weiss heaved at the taunt, their eyes scanning their downed teammates. Ruby and Blake were staggering back to their feet, but their aura was flickering around their bodies, clearly strained from the impact._

 _The pair of gold and white nodded to each other. Yang blasted her gauntlets behind her and shot towards Natsu, the Fire Dragon Slayer eagerly meeting her with blazing fists. The two collided in a furious brawl, the flame wizard easily forcing the huntress back, but not without taking a few good licks himself._

 _Weiss in the meantime dashed to Ruby and helped her leader to her feet._

" _Perhaps," Erza conceded to Lucy's point. "But there is more to a battle than mere physical strength. Elfman could probably beat Fried or Evergreen in an arm-wrestling match but both of them have trounced him in the past. While Team RWBY may have the physical capabilities to stand up to some wizards, they lack the raw destructive power that many magics provide. And when facing someone like Natsu, one who both has superior physical conditioning and that power, they simply cannot win."_

 _Indeed, at that very moment, Natsu howled and blasted Yang back several yards. The huntress stumbled a few steps but managed to wrench herself back to her feet, panting hard over her raised fists._

" _Come on," Natsu called. "Don't tell me that's it. I'm still fired up!"_

 _Like a spark to a pile of tinder, Yang's exhaustion evaporated. She grinned like a mad woman at the Salamander, flames rising all around him. "Fired up, eh? Alright then, pinky, let's see just how much you can really handle."_

" _Ooo, they're flirting! She's really trying to take your place, Lucy."_

" _Happy, I am too sleep deprived for this."_

 _Yang rushed forward, dodging and weaving as Natsu unleashed a furious barrage of fireballs, smoke billowing up from the roasted stone. Finally, the huntress leapt into the air above, her hair blazing gold and her eyes a shining crimson._

 _Natsu smacked his hands before his mouth and took in a massive gulp of air._

" **Fire Dragon Roar!** "

 _A torrent of flames rushed out of his mouth, the stream blazing straight for Yang, ready to knock her out of the sky._

 _Surprisingly, she came down herself first._

 _Yang rocketed back to the ground, the roar of fire rushing over her head. The huntress grinned, yanking her gauntleted fist from the black glyph spiraling at her feet._

 _Erza glanced over to Weiss, who kneeled with her rapier planted in the ground._

" _Impressive," the knight muttered._

 _Yang did not waste her teammate's opening. With Natsu's attention still on her previous position, she pulled her fist back and slammed into the wizard's gut with a scream and a thunderous haymaker._

 _Natsu's eyes widened, a gurgle escaping his throat. He rocketed back and bounced across the dirt, landing in a cloud of smoke._

" _Natsu!" Lucy and Happy both yelled._

 _Yang's hair settled down and her eyes returned to normal. She sagged to one knee, but her smile spoke for itself. Weiss rushed over to help Blake get up while Ruby dashed to her sister in a cloud of rose petals._

" _Alright, Yang," the red hooded girl complimented. "We did it! Sure it was a bit harder than we'd thought, but—"_

" _Natsu!" Erza shouted, the huntresses' heads whirling to her. "Show them everything."_

 _Team RWBY's eyes all widened with shock, their gazes immediately locking onto the smoky haze. Sure enough, Natsu emerged from the cloud soon after, one hand pressed to his gut._

" _How?" Yang whispered. "I hit with everything I had. And everything he'd given me. How did he get back up?"_

" _Man, that was a nice one," he muttered admirably, wincing a bit as he did so. "You guys are great."_

" _Natsu!" Erza called again. "Playtime is over. Show them everything you've got."_

" _Everything? But this is so much fun—"_

" _EVERYTHING!"_

" _Yes, mam!" Natsu screeched, his hand rising for a quick salute. After that, he planted his feet into a solid stance, splintering the ground with his steps. All around his body, magic power surged, flames rising in a blazing aura._

" _Go, now!" Ruby ordered her team. All four girls charged, weapons ready to strike._

 _They never made it._

 _It was said that The King of the Fire Dragons could unleash flames hotter than the sun, infernos strong enough to crumble mountains and melt continents. If the ocean had dared to touch his blaze, the world would have found itself encased in a void of steam and salt, the vapor never to be liquid again. Natsu aspired to his father's heights, dreamt of rising to the call of legend. But even if he still had a long way to go, he did possess one thing that even Igneel had never wielded._

 _The Thunder._

" **LIGHTNING FLAME DRAGON MODE!** "

 _All at once, the Salamander's power tripled, the infernal tempest erupting in a cloak of brilliant light that illuminated the night sky like a miniature sun. Vicious bolts wrapped around his indomitable flames like a second coat of scales, riving as their power was forced to match the tumultuous blaze. Natsu's hair was thrust straight into the sky, his eyes glowing a violent orange and slit like a true dragon._

 _Team RWBY froze in their tracks. For several moments, all they could do was stand there, feel the heat and absorb the thunder, the sparks crackling furiously against the cool night air. Perhaps the huntresses had faced monsters and toppled kingpins, but for the first time, they beheld the full might of a Fairy Tail Wizard._

 _One by one, without Natsu throwing a single blow, they dropped to their knees. First Weiss, then Blake, and a trembling Ruby. Finally, after nearly half a minute of defiant staring, Yang joined her teammates, her wide, shivering eyes locked on the dirt beneath them._

" _We… we…" Ruby whimpered. "We accept defeat."_

 _Natsu extinguished his power, the sudden lack of flames and lighting sizzling the air. He grimaced and looked over the huntresses with a sympathetic gaze. "Sorry. I had to learn it too."_

 _Lucy and Happy both mimicked his empathy, their lower lips bitten in pity._

 _Internally, Erza did the same, but outwardly she remained stoic, leaping down to the canyon floor. This was somewhat harsh, but Master had taught her this lesson the same way long ago and Gildarts had said he did the same with Natsu during the S-class trial, one of the few teachings the reckless warrior had ever taken to heart. Team RWBY needed to learn it as well._

" _You did well." She complimented the girls, coming to stand beside Ruby's kneeled form. "Natsu is one of the strongest wizards in the guild. He is most certainly an outlier of the opponents that you will face in this world. But Tartaros exists in that same outlier. Their elites, the Nine Demon Gates, are all said to be on Natsu's level at the very least, and that's discounting their guildmaster. If you went after them as you are now, you would die."_

" _We can't wait." Ruby whimpered, tears dripping from her silver eyes. "They're our only lead. Our only chance at getting home. If we wait… who knows if whatever brought us here will still be there."_

" _You won't ever get home if you die here," Erza stated solemnly. She knelt beside Ruby and raised the girl's head, her broken eyes coming to stare into the Titania's own. "There is no shame in fear. It let's us know where we are weak, where we need to improve. Where others can help us improve. You've already learned how to take in ethernano, but there is so much more to magic than just that. So much more you can learn, that we can teach you. You may not be in your world, but you are not alone."_

 _Ruby's face crumpled, a deluge rushing down her cheeks. "Why? Why are you helping us? You don't even know us. We fell out of the sky and you just… you just—"_

 _Erza smiled at the poor child. She took the huntress' wrists in her grip and lifted the back of her hand into sight, the girl's crimson guildmark shining proudly. She rolled up her left sleeve and revealed her own sapphire emblem. "There is no reason not to help someone in need. But the moment you all accepted these marks, we became family, always and forever. We will help you become as strong as you can possibly be. We will help you track down Tartaros. And we will find a way for you to return home. Because you are all Fairy Tail Wizards."_

 _Ruby sniffled, her sleeve rising to wipe the tears from her face. "Thank you."_

 _All around, Weiss, Blake, and Yang managed to smile at the pair, stuffing their own cries in the wake of their leader's comforting. Natsu beamed at the quartet. Lucy and Happy descended to join them, the rest of the party not far behind, though Gray had somehow lost his clothes._

 _Still, his sudden nakedness put his dark blue guildmark on full display, emboldened like a deep sea across his bare chest. It was the same mark that they all bore, a mark that bound them, that declared to the world, to all worlds, that they were family. That they were Fairy Tail._

 _For all that Team RWBY had been defeated that night, they would never again doubt that they had a home on both worlds._

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

Ozpin was more than a little disgruntled.

James' going over his head to take over the Vytel Festival's security was the issue that had been at the forefront of his mind, the Council Chairman's not so subtle threats to relieve him of his position after the event a mere pinprick. He was sure his old friend had not meant for such repercussions to come from his actions. Impulsive and overeager he may have been, Ironwood was still his friend. The general's heart was in the right place, seeking only to protect the innocents of every kingdom from the threat they knew nothing of. Ozpin only feared that his more basic approach would merely provide more openings for the Queen's agents.

More than anything, that was what terrified Ozpin. Amber was safe in the vault, fading but alive, but who knew for how long. He was sure that Ms. Nikos would make a more than capable replacement, but every second his troubled conscious delayed him in begging for her help was another second the spies among them could discover the Fall Maiden's location. And after that, it was only a matter of time before the assailant arrived, half of her victim's immense magic in tow.

Attacking a maiden out in the open. His foe hadn't been so bold in decades, not since she saw to the disappearance of Summer Rose. She was preparing for something, something that would spark a major offensive. But what?

The headmaster sighed and leaned back into his chair. He took a sip of coffee from his prized mug and flipped on the festival at his desk's viewscreen.

No matter the Queen of the Grimm's plans, he couldn't forget that she was not unopposed. For all that individuals had betrayed him again and again, for that the species fell into the same sins over and over, humanity had yet to completely fail him. For an eon they had stood fast against the corrupting darkness, and with any luck he would help them stand an eon more. The plague that had taken so much from him and the world would not claim victory.

And the ones who would stop it were the huntsmen and huntresses who battled before him now, amazing the people of Remnant with the skills of their protectors, assuring them they could sleep soundly in their beds without fear. They would hold back the Grimm and the worse things the enemy conjured. She and her Gates would not win.

"And in record time, Team RWBY wins! My word, I don't think I've ever seen a takedown so precise!"

"That's because you didn't see it. Team RWBY cleverly utilized a smokescreen to blind their opponents, and by consequence the audience. Still, their mastery of such a strategy, while not as thrilling to watch, easily earns them a spot in the next round."

Ozpin smiled as he heard Peter and Bart's booming voices echo over the sound system, the confusion of the crowd soon turning into a jubilant roar. The fact that it was _that_ team that earned their applause only made it even sweeter, assuring him that Mr. Arc's worries for their curious absence for the past few days were as unnecessary as he'd prayed.

Weiss Schnee, heiress of the Schnee Dust Company. Proud, but with an iron will to improve herself and those around her. If she took the reins of her family's business and name, Ozpin had no doubt it would return to the same prestige and benevolence that it had blessed the world with during Nicholas' tenure.

Blake Belladonna, daughter of Ghira Belladonna, founder of the White Fang and Chieftain of Menagerie. Ozpin knew exactly who she was the moment he saw her, but he had met her parents several times at political functions. Anyone without such experience would simply dismiss her as just another faunus, assuming they got a look at what was under her bow. But she was far from just another face among the crowd, for she had had the strength to realize the faults of the path she had chosen and was now putting everything she had towards obtaining true peace. With her team by her side, especially Ms. Schnee, the headmaster had little doubt that she would make great strides in that effort.

Yang Xiao-Long, one of the most talented fighters Ozpin had seen since her parents. Strong, willful, and fiercely loyal to her friends, the Little Sun Dragon would do everything in her power to ensure that her family was protected, ensuring that the others would face as little obstacles as possible.

And finally, Ruby Rose, the Silver-Eyed Warrior. Ozpin had made a grave error putting all the hope he had on her mother, not for any fault of Summer's but too much of a burden could break anyone. Still, despite himself, the ancient wizard would not help but wonder if Ruby Rose would be the one to finally end it, to save humanity from the evil that had haunted them for so long. She was a simple soul, determined to help everyone she could and that attracted others, others who might not normally have been so philanthropically inclined, to her banner. He firmly believed that she could be the one to finally unite the disparate lights of mankind to vanquish the darkness.

Separately, each of the girls was a marvel, a titan in the making on canvas of the world. But together, they might just do the impossible. At least, that was what he hoped.

He had to hope. After them, after they meet _her_ , it would be the beginning of the end. But until that time, Ozpin knew that they would be… safe?

The headmaster's eyes widened as the smoke cleared from the arena. He rubbed his eyes to make sure his coffee hadn't gotten to him and stared at the viewscreen once more.

They were still there.

He paused the footage and enhanced the image, desperately hoping to be wrong.

He wasn't.

On the back of each girl's hands, was the emblem of Fairy Tail.

Which meant if the Queen found out, she would come for them all.

* * *

 **Yeah, Natsu gets to show the girls the difference between an anime character that's over halfway through their series and four who are just starting out. Fun times.**

 **A huge thank you to my patrons: Gregg Tracton, Keith Traction and Cool guy.**

 **Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!**

 **Go Forth and Conquer!**


	5. Chapter 4

**The chapter of November is here! In November! Hooray!**

 **If you wish to support me and my college tuition, please check out my P a treon for future chapter summaries, story ideas and more: p a Treon.(c om) (backslash) themaster4444**

* * *

Winter paced furiously throughout the General's cabin, the sparse and plain contents that were usually comforting now providing her with little distraction from the events of the past hour.

At first, everything had seemed fine. The transportation of the new model Paladins had gone without incident, whoever had hijacked the last shipment either unable to acquire the new route or unwilling to challenge the increased escort. Their arrival in Vale could not have been more textbook, the rank and file troops under her attended to the unloading while she made for Beacon to confirm the procedure with both General Ironwood and Headmaster Ozpin.

Weiss had even surprised her by meeting her at the docks, far more exuberant than Winter had ever seen her, though the sensitive nature of her assignment had provided her little to discuss with her beloved sibling. She couldn't even take the time to compliment her on her performance in the Vytal Festival. After all, if your enemy didn't see you coming then they couldn't stop you, even if the crowd was excluded from the scene as well. It was excellent tactics.

Though, she was concerned by the strange tattoo on the back of her little sister's hand. If her apparent leader, this Ruby Rose, had gotten Weiss involved in any… distasteful association, there would be a reckoning. Still, Weiss was a smart girl. She could trust her not to cause any trouble. Unlike _some_ people.

Qrow Branwen was, as ever, the most aggravating, disrespectful, lackadaisical, drunken lout that had ever walked the face of Remnant. His juvenile taunts were irritating at the best of times, and insinuating that General Ironwood was some kind of turncoat was not something she'd ever allow to stand, not after all he'd done for her. Granted she could have handled the matter more delicately, but he had destroyed her escort first and—damn it, she sounded like a five-year-old in a playground scuffle. Perhaps it was best she'd been dismissed from the meeting in the headmaster's office before she lost her head and tried to take Branwen's.

Still, she wished she knew what the four of them had been discussing that had required her absence. As a Senior Specialist, the only people with higher security clearance than her were the General himself, the Specialist Commander, the Director of Atlesian Intelligence, and members of the Council. She was well aware there were matters that she was not privileged to, but for the life of her, she couldn't imagine that one of those matters involved the Headmaster of a foreign academy and two highly skilled but otherwise mundane huntsmen, one far more respectable than the other.

The doors to the cabin whirred open. Winter twirled around and snapped into a salute. "Sir!"

"At ease, specialist," the general nodded. He strode into the room and took a seat behind his desk, wearily shaking his head as he did so.

Winter cringed, only bringing her salute down to formally fold her hands behind her back. "General, I apologize for the incident in the courtyard earlier. I should not have allowed Qrow's prodding to provoke me."

"What? Oh, right, that. Forgot about that, Winter," the general said. "Gods know Qrow knows how to make people mad when he wants to. He should have known better than to make a mess like that in public."

"So should I."

The general sighed. "Yes, you should. But no one was hurt and overall it was a minor incident. We have bigger things to deal with."

Winter raised an eyebrow in confusion. It was minuscule, but the general seemed more agitated than he normally was after a meeting with Ozpin. Managing both Atlas Academy and the three branches of the Atlesian Military would exhaust anyone, especially when they also had to play politics with the Council, but the general had obtained a vast amount of experience in all three. As a consequence, almost no one was better at restraining their emotions than James Ironwood, with only a select few, such as Winter's father, able to provoke a passionate response from him. Dealing with his old friend, even after their scuffle over who would handle the security of the Vytal Festival, shouldn't have left him rattled enough for her to notice.

"Sir, if I may ask, is something wrong?"

A black chuckle escaped the general's throat. "More than you know, Winter. More than you know."

The snow-haired woman immediately frowned. Her superior could be quick with a laugh among trusted company, but his was a warm thing, a resonate echo full of heart that one would never expect from a metal body. How troubled was he that it had turned so dark?

"Was it something in Qrow's report?" she asked.

"In part. He let us know that our mysterious terrorist, the one that likely organized the Breach, is even more dangerous than we thought."

"What do you mean?"

The general opened his mouth to speak but paused. His brow furrowed in consideration for a moment, and then his jaw closed. Winter tried not to be offended. There were matters she did not have the clearance to know.

Still, she couldn't deny it did sting that the man who'd been more of a father to her than the scum who'd birthed her trusted Qrow with the information over her.

"She… has a dangerous backer," the general finally settled on. "One that threatens all of Remnant more than the White Fang ever could. Ozpin recently received a sign that she will make a move soon."

"How soon?"

"Soon enough that he asked me to increase the festival's security."

Winter's eyes widened in shock. "I thought Professor Ozpin did not approve of the measures we already had in place."

"He didn't," the general confirmed. "So, you can imagine my trepidation about his turnaround."

The huntress gulped. "This backer… is she really that dangerous?"

"More. But Ozpin has been dealing with her for a long time. He never treats her lightly, but he's usually more… restrained. He doesn't like overt displays of power. This sign has him convinced something big is about to happen and with the world's eyes on the festival, we cannot let that happen."

Winter nodded. A terrorist attack like the Breach was a tragedy by itself, but if all of Remnant saw Vale assaulted even with Atlas' protection, it would be a catastrophe. The panic would incite the Grimm worldwide, setting off a chain of horror that could cost countless lives.

"What is to be done?" she inquired, her voice forced as cold as ice. "Intelligence's route is still safe, but it would take several days for another shipment of paladins to arrive."

"A specialist's shuttle would be faster," the general pointed out. "I've already ordered Commander Obsidian to send a squad of our best."

"A squad of specialists?" Winter remarked, astounded.

As much as Atlas prided itself on technology, there was no debate that the Specialist Corps was the kingdom's premier fighting force. To join the corps required one to be huntsman certified at minimum, with further extensive training in demolition, piloting, advanced combat, and a dozen other disciplines designed to make each of its members an unstoppable agent of the kingdom's will. Each one was said to be the equal of an entire team of other huntsmen, with only outliers such as Qrow being their equals. There was a reason she alone was sent to escort the paladin shipment. If the general was sending for an entire squad…

"Sir, if I may ask," she began softly. "This sign that startled Professor Ozpin so badly, what was it?"

Again, the general hesitated. But this time, he simply sighed and pulled out his scroll. "I suppose you deserve to know."

He slid the device across his desk and hit a button, A moment later, a holographic image materialized in the air above.

A very familiar image. One Winter had witnessed live not long ago.

"Sir, what is this?" she demanded, her respect for her superior barely maintaining her proper decorum at the sight of her baby sister and her team, the picture taken right after they had won their first-round fight. "You can't believe that Weiss could possibly be working with some terror—"

"I don't, Winter," the general cut her off firmly, an understanding but stalwart look in his eye. "Neither does Ozpin. Disregarding Team RWBY's various familial ties that make their cooperation with the White Fang, much less this other terrorist, more than unlikely, they were the first responders to the Breach incident. If they had simply done nothing, that attack would not have been bottlenecked as easily as it was."

Winter shut her mouth and took a deep breath. Of course, Weiss wasn't under suspicion, that was absurd. She needed to stop overreacting when people she cared about were insulted or appeared to be so. One of these days it wasn't going to be as simple to resolve as a few calm words.

Still…

"If they aren't involved, why is Ozpin so worried?"

The general tapped another series of commands into his scroll. Four boxes appeared on the image, zooming in and then magnified the sections of the hologram displaying the back of each member of Team RWBY's hands.

And the tattoos upon them.

Winter glared at the birdlike symbols, her fists closing in mistrust.

"These marks are apparently the symbol of a very powerful group. One our enemy will not take lightly," the general explained. "They're called Fairy Tail."

Winter blinked numbly. "I'm sorry sir. They're called what?"

"Fairy Tail, like the tail of an animal, not a story. And yes, I know it sounds ridiculous, but Ozpin wouldn't joke about something like this." The general paused and raised an eyebrow. "At least, I don't think he was joking."

"Assuming he wasn't, what exactly is this Fairy Tail's goal?" Winter inquired. "What are they working towards? What is their connection to the Breach mastermind?"

And why had Weiss seen fit to join them?

"Ozpin says this group isn't our enemy, but that an organization as powerful as he says they are has only shown up now is… disconcerting," the general confided. "He's asked Qrow to investigate the matter through his nieces."

"And you'd like me to do the same through Weiss," Winter deduced.

The general shot her a sympathetic grimace. "I'm sorry Winter. I know it isn't right to place this on you. I promise, your sister is not under any suspicion of wrongdoing. We just want to figure out what's going on."

"I… I understand, sir."

Indeed she did. Even if this group had no malicious intentions as Ozpin said, if they were as powerful as the headmaster claimed then there should have been traces of them somewhere on Remnant. Histories, records, iconography, _something_. If Weiss and her team knew something that could help them gain an understanding, it was imperative that she discerned exactly what that was as soon as possible, if only so the proper authorities could figure out what their next move should be. Because, if this mysterious terrorist felt threatened by a team of rising huntresses joining this Fairy Tail, their own attacks, which were already among some of the most dangerous since the end of the Faunus Wars, would only escalate. And even with the increased security, who knew if they could be stopped.

Still, she disliked having to muddle duty with her sister. She'd already had to keep her at arm's length during their earlier reunion since she'd still technically been on a mission at the time. She wanted to check in with Weiss, see just how much she'd grown during her time away from home, and, more importantly, away from their father. And if she had joined this strange group…

"Sir, did Professor Ozpin mention what becoming a member of Fairy Tail might have to Weiss?" Winter inquired worriedly. "Do they use any sort of coercion, a drug of some kind of—"

"Don't worry about that, Winter," the general assured her. "From what Ozpin said, membership in Fairy Tail is completely voluntary. Your sister is still the same girl you've always known." He paused, his furrowing in consideration. "Although… she may have gained a few… additional skills."

That did nothing to call Winter's nerves. There were ways of making any action one took _seem_ voluntary. And there were many less than pleasant methods of acquiring skills. If any of these _fairies_ had caused any harm to her baby sister during her time with them, she would personally ensure that they all froze in hell for it.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

" _I am not stripping in front of you, pervert!" Weiss roared, her shrill screech echoing even above the tempestuous snows of Mt. Hakobe._

 _The Schnee Heiress had no idea how it had come to this. After resting from their battle with Natsu, Erza had asked them all what kind of magic they'd wanted to learn. Ruby, predictably, had instantly begged the Queen of the Fairies to instruct her in Requip Magic, practically drooling at the idea of being able to carry as many weapons into battle as she wanted. Yang had asked for instruction under Natsu, both intrigued by the power of his flames and eager to punch him in the face as much as possible. To his credit, the pink haired buffoon had taken the remark in stride, even more excited to begin their tutelage._

 _But Weiss? Weiss was a Schnee. Even if no one in this new world knew that name, and she was still trying to figure out exactly how she felt about that fact, it meant that she held herself to a certain standard. She couldn't half learn how to use a million different weapons or barbarously smack her enemies in the face like Yang or some savage (she didn't think she had the physical strength for that either). She needed something she could hone, that she could perfect. Something elegant. When Erza had nodded knowingly and pointed her towards Gray, she'd thought the knight had understood that._

 _Yet somehow, she had been marched up a mountain, into the middle of a blizzard, and was now being told to take off all her clothes!_

 _She tore out Myrtenaster and made ready to stab the stupid, pervert wizard right between the eyes._

" _Wait!" he shouted, waving his hands in front of himself. "It's not what you think!"_

 _Weiss narrowed her eyes, her rapier freezing in place. "Explain."_

 _The word had barely left her mouth when she witnessed Gray toss his own clothing to into the snow. "I'm stripping too."_

" _That doesn't make it better!" Weiss screeched._

 _Gray sighed, the silver cross necklace around his neck, his only remaining garment aside from his boxers, blowing in the fierce mountain winds. "Look, you said you wanted to learn Ice Make Magic, and this was how my teacher taught it to me."_

" _How? By peeping on you while you got frostbite?" Weiss snarked. Putting aside the perverted side of the wizard's instructions, they were in the middle of a freaking blizzard! And Gray expected her to go naked?_

" _If you want to control the cold, you have to become one with it," her teacher declared firmly. Despite his body's current exposed state, his muscles weren't moving an inch, his dark blue guildmark perfectly stationary upon his majestically sculped abdomen—_

 _Weiss blushed feverishly and shook her head madly. Those kinds of thoughts were for Blake and Yang, not her. She had been looked at as a piece of meat by enough potential suitors to know better than to do it towards anyone else._

" _Are you absolutely sure there's no other way to learn this magic?"_

 _Gray shrugged. "Maybe. But not that I know how to teach you. Though if it really means that much to you, I'm sure there are some books in the guild library that could give you the basics."_

 _Weiss sighed. "The basics won't be enough to take on Tartaros."_

 _The duel against Natsu had shown Team RWBY exactly where they stood in this new world. If they were to challenge the most powerful dark guild and get back to Remnant in any reasonable amount of time, they needed to get stronger and fast. And as much as Weiss prided herself on her studying ability, there was only so much one could learn by reading. She needed a teacher._

 _And if that meant… stripping… she would… could handle it. Probably._

 _Ugh! Why didn't she just go with Blake and Mira to get a taste of everything?_

" _Alright, fine, I'll do it," she huffed. "Just… don't look. Okay?"_

 _Gray cocked an eyebrow. "You do realize I'll have to look at you eventually to teach you everything, right?"_

" _Just do it!"_

" _Fine, fine, whatever you say," the ice wizard moaned as he turned around. "Geez, your world must have some serious hang-ups."_

 _Weiss scowled and whirled away in a huff. "I'm pretty sure this is a hang-up on any world."_

 _Bit by bit, piece by piece, she began to remove her clothes, beginning by reluctantly discarding her jacket and weapons' belt, Myrtenaster included, and ending with her standing in the midst of the snow in nothing but her pure white undergarments. She could practically hear Winter scolding her for her impropriety. She could only imagine the tantrum her father would throw._

 _She would deny it, but that thought did bring an impish smile to her face._

 _Of course, just as it did, she caught sight of a glint shimmering in the snowstorm, like light striking a lens. She squinted and saw a deep blue hat just above the glint, at least before it disappeared behind a snowdrift an instant later._

" _What in the world?" she muttered._

" _What? Are you done yet?" Gray called back._

" _Wha—I saw something," she told him. "I saw something blue in the snow."_

 _Gray turned and came up beside her. He squinted where she was looking. "Blue?"_

" _Yes. A deep blue like… like…"_

" _Water?"_

" _Yes!" Weiss declared. Her face fell a moment later, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. "How did you know that? Do you have someone hiding back there to take pictures of me like this?"_

" _What? No," Gray denied as she glared at him. "Why would I even do that—ah forget it. Look, there might be someone back there, but if it's who I think it is, they're probably watching me more than you."_

 _Weiss cocked an eyebrow._ _Perhaps she was being paranoid after her experiences with the press in her own world, but those instincts had proven valuable in the past. Though, admittedly, being in a world where her family didn't even exist kind of made it more unreasonable._ _"Are you sure?"_

" _Pretty positive. I've asked her not to but she's pretty persistent. It's best to just keep doing what we're doing."_

 _Weiss glanced back to the snow drift. "She?"_

" _Long story. She tends to follow me around a lot."_

" _Is she going to be okay out in this?" Weiss asked, gesturing to the raging blizzard around them._

" _Don't worry. She's more than capable of taking care of herself," Gray promised. The wizard turned to face her directly. "I'd be more concerned about how you're handling this, but you seem to have a handle on it."_

" _Huh? What are you talking about? It's freezing out…"_

 _Weiss froze when she realized he was right. She'd been practically naked in the middle of a snowstorm for nearly a minute, fierce winds rushing over every inch of her exposed skin. By all rights, she should have been a real 'Ice Queen' by then. But instead, she didn't even feel a chill._

" _What the heck?" she exclaimed, leaping up from the snow. "What is this?"_

" _No clue. You're not even shivering. I didn't even manage that when I was first starting out," Gray noted, his fingers rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Does that aura of yours provide insulation or something?"_

" _No," Weiss explained. "I grew up in a climate sort of like this, but that shouldn't make me fine standing butt naked in a storm. Does this have something to do with magic or something?"_

" _Hmm, maybe," Gray hummed. "You guys have been taking in ethernano, and everyone's got an affinity for some sort of magic. But, the only magic I know that could have this kind of an instinctual effect is…"_

 _The ice wizard grinned like a kid in a candy store. "Oh, yes…"_

" _What?" Weiss asked. "What is it?"_

" _I'll tell you once I know for sure. I don't want to get your hopes up," Gray said with a smirk. "In the meantime, let's get started with your Maker Magic."_

 _Weiss wasn't exactly satisfied with that answer, she generally liked to know what was going on in her own body, Still, she felt like she could trust Gray to tell her if the thing keeping her from shivering was harmful. They were both Fairy Tail members after all, and as Erza kept telling them, that made them family. Of course, given only one-quarter of her blood family was actively helpful, that didn't give her as much reassurance as it could have._

 _But that didn't matter. On Remnant, she needed to get stronger to seize control of and restore honor to her family name, but here, on Earthland, she needed power for a different reason. To defeat Tartaros, find the book that had brought them to this world and get her team home._

 _And if that meant trusting the naked man and running through a blizzard, then so be it._

 _She nodded to Gray. "Give me everything you've got."_

 _The ice wizard grinned. "Alright then. First lesson, maker magic doesn't have the pure brute force of other styles, so you're not going to be able to rely on power like Natsu or Erza. You're going to have to be creative with what you do. You good with that?"_

 _Weiss nodded. She'd never been one to rely on pure brute force anyway. Her lithe frame had lent itself more to agility and precise, practiced technique. Her instructors would show her a movement and she'd rehearse it until she'd couldn't not get it right. This would be no different. She'd know this Ice Magic inside and out in no time._

" _Good." Gray pronounced. He dropped into a ready stance, his hands coming together at his side, a fist in an open palm. "Next, you'll need to channel your energy through the magic circle you make at your hands. Always use both, or your spell will be unstable. We'll practice this a few times until you can get it and then we'll find some Vulcans around here to test it out in a real fight…"_

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

 _Juvia couldn't believe what she was seeing. Surely her binoculars had simply been clouded by the storm. Or she'd rushed behind the snow drift so quickly when the white-haired girl had turned her way that the blood had shot to her head and muddled her memory. After all, it simply couldn't be true!_

 _But it was! Gray, her beloved, darling, wonderful Gray, the man of her dreams, had taken on one of those new girls to be taught under him. 'Under' him. Argh! The girl was even more insidious than Lucy!_

 _She had tried to cut down on her observation of her darling after he had expressed his dislike of her habits during the final banquet of the Grand Magic Games, but how could she ignore such a blatant love rival? Weiss Schnee may have been shorter than a gremlin, but she certainly didn't look like one. With her pure alabaster skin and chilling blue eyes, she was practically already a perfect woman of snow and ice. And with her only being a woman of water, how could she compete with such a natural companion for her beloved?_

 _When she had first raised the idea to Lucy, she had tried pointing out that Weiss perhaps had bigger problems to deal with but that was just it. Stranded and alone, separated from her very world, who should she turn to for comfort but the strapping, mighty, protective, and loving Gray Fullbuster! They had already fully borne themselves to each other! Juvia could only imagine how the rest of their 'training' would go._

' _Oh, my darling Gray, you are the most wonderful, amazing, and handsome teacher I could have ever wished for! The only comfort I have in my dark, cruel exile is that I have had the unparalleled pleasure of meeting you!'_

' _Hush, my sweet Weiss! Even if we had remained worlds apart, my love would have crossed all of space just to be with you for all eternity!'_

' _And not that Juvia girl?'_

' _Especially not that Juvia girl.'_

' _My love! Ravish me in the heart of this raging storm!"_

' _More than that, I'll follow you home so we can be together throughout all time!'_

" _NOOOO!" Juvia sobbed, breaking out of her nightmarish imagination. She wailed at the sky even beneath her heavy winter coat. "My darling Gray, please don't go!"_

" _Huh? Did you hear that?" Weiss called out from where she and Gray were training in the roaring blizzard._

 _Juvia squealed and dove back behind her snow drift before she could be discovered, her entire face flushed. She couldn't let this stand! She would have to deal with this tramp—_

 _No! No, that was the old her talking, the Phantom Lord her. Even after all this time, she still had trouble suppressing her instincts to utterly annihilate anything that stood in her path, specifically her path to her beloved. But she was different now, she had changed. She was a Fairy Tail wizard and she would not harm her family simply for associating with Gray._

 _For associating with him while they were both naked…_

 _Juvia barely caught her arm as a Water Slicer instinctually lashed out towards Weiss, her halting of the attack sending the blast off target and nailing a gorilla-like Vulcan that had been sneaking up on the girl._

" _There! That! You can't tell me you didn't hear that?" Weiss shouted._

" _Hmm, looks like a Vulcan," Gray evaluated. "You must have taken it out without noticing. They're not too strong."_

" _That thing is a Vulcan?!"_

 _Juvia seized the opportunity and dashed down the mountain._

 _Weiss was a member of Fairy Tail, a member of her family. She couldn't hurt her! But she was plotting to steal her darling Gray! She couldn't let that happen! She'd assassinate the harlot in her sleep—_

 _Oh, dear gods, she needed to talk to someone about this before she did something she'd regret. But Lucy had already proven herself useless in on the topic and she couldn't very well speak with her darling, so who could she possibly turn to… of course! It was so obvious! Why didn't she think of asking her old friend sooner?_

 _Surely, Gajeel would know exactly what to do!_

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

No. No. No!

Urgh!

Blake smacked her head against the library table, the thick book in front of her as useless as the other half a dozen she'd searched through already.

Beacon's library wasn't the most popular location during the school year, but with the grand entertainment of the Vytal Festival going on next door, and class suspended because of it, she practically had the place to herself. And since Weiss and Yang were their team for the doubles' round and Ruby would be handling Team JNPR's magic instruction, that left her with the task of tracking down any information she could on the book that had sent them to Earthland. Their time with Fairy Tail had shed a bit more light on the tome, but they still had no idea how it had gotten to Remnant or why there was ethernano in their homeworld or why there was such a time discrepancy between the time they were gone and the time they were spent with the guild—Argh!

It all made no sense! She wasn't a scientist, she didn't know the first thing about interdimensional physics and, even if she did, how was she supposed to apply that to magic?! As it was, she was just looking for any Remnant point of view on any of the symbols on the cover, maybe some huntsman who'd had an encounter with an ally of Tartaros or something. Of course, she doubted any huntsman could have survived a meeting with any of the Nine Gates but maybe they'd run into a minion of the guild. Alas, she'd searched through every symbol reference book she could find and there hadn't even been a mention of any of the emblems on the cover of Sitara's book.

Blake sighed and leaned back in her chair. She rubbed her tired eyes, her gaunt reflection showing the polished desk. She'd gone straight to research after watching Team JNPR and SSSN's match, and since then she'd been at it with all the ferocity that she had once directed at the White Fang, with much the same results.

She needed to pull back, reevaluate the situation. Or maybe take a break like Yang had advised back then. Heck, even Mira had advocated routine rests during training and she…

Blake shuddered at the memory of her mentor. Though she loved and respected her… so many pillows… so many straps…

Oh gods, she needed a distraction right now.

"Hey, Blake!"

"Sun!" the cat faunus exclaimed, whirling around far too enthusiastically. Her blond monkey-like friend barely had time to raise an eyebrow at her massive smile before she tackled him in a hug. "Thank you!"

"Uh, sure, no problem," Sun stammered, his normally nonchalant persona hindered by being flat on the carpet. "But, what exactly are you thanking me for? I mean, there's probably lots of stuff but maybe… uh, specifically…"

"Dude," Neptune cut in, leaning down to his partner's face. "A beautiful girl just literally leapt into your arms. Stop questioning it."

Blake's eyes widened. She shot off Sun and jumped back to standing, awkwardly coughing into a closed fist. "Sorry."

Sun flashed one of his trademark grins and picked himself off the floor. "No problem. I was actually kind of worried you were mad at me for helping during the festival setup. We haven't seen you since then."

"I told you that was going too far," Neptune scolded him.

"I was trying to be nice!"

"Sure you were."

"I was!"

Blake couldn't help the faint smile that rose to her lips. Sun's exuberance may not have held a candle to Fairy Tail, but it was a welcome comfort all the same. She'd missed her non-team friends during their stint in Fiore, and she and Sun had become close during the short time they'd known each other. Plus, with him there, she could take comfort that she was no longer the only faunus in the world.

Wow. Her life really had gone insane if that thought was running through her head.

"So where were you guys?"

Blake blinked numbly. "Huh?"

"We haven't seen you guys since the festival setup," Sun repeated. "Jaune was actually asking around for you all, he was really worried. I told him he was overreacting, but if you hadn't been there at the tournament today…"

Blake chuckled and shook her head merrily. "Thank you for having faith in us. We were… well, I'm not sure if you'd believe me if I told you."

There may have been plenty of ethernano in the air, but her magic wasn't like the others. She hadn't had much energy left when they'd returned to Remnant and without Loke around to give her a recharge, she'd have to ration what little she still had. She couldn't waste power proving her story like Ruby did with JNPR, though if she could take the boys to her leader later…

"A slumber party."

Blake cocked an eyebrow at Neptune. "What?"

The blue haired boy sagely nodded to his partner. "I told you. They were having a three-day slumber party, complete with makeovers, hair braiding, and sexy pillow fig—"

"Dude, she's five seconds away from punching you in the face," Sun cut in, noticing Blake's quickly deepening scowl. He shoved a hand over his partner's mouth and smiled sheepishly at her. "Ignore him, he's… yeah, still dumb."

"You used the same thing twice in a row!" Neptune protested, shoving the hand away from his face. "You used 'dumb' with NDGO! You can't use the same thing twice in a row!"

"Why? You're still dumb."

Blake sighed. At least Sun had caught on before she'd actually punched Neptune. For all that may have been an acceptable response at the guildhall, assaulting another team's member outside of a match, even one that wouldn't make a big deal out of it, wouldn't end well. Besides, there had been a few slumber parties in Fairy Hills, though since the main participants had been Ruby, Wendy, and occasionally Weiss and Juvia, pillow fights, even normal pillow fights, had been a rare occurrence.

"It was a bit more complex than that," she assured them. She circled back to her desk. "It was actually all because of this book that we were—"

Blake froze. Her eyes scanned the table, then they swept it again, unwilling to believe what she was seeing. She had been the only person in the library until Sun and Neptune arrived, she would have seen someone take it. And yet, it was nowhere in sight.

"Where is it?" she hissed, her arms shoving the other tomes across the table just in case her eyes were playing tricks on her.

"Where's what?" Sun asked innocently.

She whirled on him, her cheery smile replaced with a panicked scowl. "The book! There was a book here!"

Indeed, Sitara's tome, the book that had taken her team to Earthland, that she had laid out on the library table to compare with the emblem indexes, had disappeared into thin air.

Their one clue, their one lead to one day seeing their guildmates again, was gone.

Sun and Neptune staggered away from her, though the former dared to take a placating step forward. "Blake, what book? We can help you find it, you probably just put it down somewhere—"

"Did you see anyone else in the library?" Blake fervently demanded. "Did you see anyone leave when you came in?"

"Uh, yeah! We saw… uh… Neptune…"

"What?"

"That person who left… did you recognize her?"

"What? Of course! There's no lady that I… don't… actually, she was kind of blurry."

"Blurry?!" Blake growled furiously. "She was blurry?"

"It was definitely a girl!"

Blake howled and pushed both of the boys aside. She charged out of the library and whipped her head around the halls, but none of the sparse few students wandering the halls had the book on their person.

How could she have let this happen? She used to be an elite White Fang operative, she'd been involved in espionage since she was thirteen. How could she have let someone take the book without even noticing? Who would even try to take it? Aside from them, no one else knew that it was anything other than a fancy cover—

Her breath caught in her throat. There was one other person who would know about the book's power. The person who put it in their room. The person powerful enough to somehow obtain it without and bring it across dimensions without Sitara being any the wiser. They'd thought they were done with them, but if they weren't…

She needed to tell the others. She needed to let them know what was going on.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

" _I have no idea what's going on," Blake confessed glumly._

 _Mira smiled sympathetically at the huntress. She flicked her light pen and the complex diagram she'd drawn of the various types of magic disappeared into sparkles._

 _While the rest of Team RWBY had instantly known what type of magic they wanted to learn, Blake had not been as inspired, either by Erza's lessons or their ill-fated brawl with Natsu. Her tastes or semblance simply didn't line up with the mainly brute force tactics she'd seen from magic so far. Mira had hoped that giving her a rundown of a wide assortment of magics would help her figure out which one she wanted to study, even pulling in her siblings Elfman and Lisanna to help out. Unfortunately, between the sheer variety of mystical styles and the middle Strauss sibling constantly proclaiming all of them as either 'a real man's!' magic or not, the huntress didn't feel any closer to figuring out what she should do to advance her skills._

" _Don't worry," Mira comforted her, the barmaid patting her on the shoulder. "It may take some time, but we'll find the magic that's right for you."_

" _Yeah! My big sister's a real man!" Elfman roared. He shot a confident grin down on Blake. "With her teaching you, you'll be knocking Natsu around in no time!"_

 _Lisanna cringed beside her big brother, a bead of sweat dropping from her forehead. "Let's not set her hopes too high, Elfman. There's only so much strength she can gain in so much time."_

 _Time. It all came back to time. They had no idea how much time passed on Remnant while they were away. For all they knew, Remnant's history would pass in the blink of an eye and they'd only return to their world only after it had gone through the apocalypse. They need to get home as fast as possible, but they wouldn't stand a chance against Tartaros until they became strong enough to hold their own against wizards of Natsu's caliber. To do so, they needed to learn magic, which took time! Time they did not have!_

 _The others were doing their best. It had barely taken Yang a second to light a small flame in her hand, and Ruby was so eager to learn she'd be amazed if Erza couldn't teach the red hooded girl to summon weapons. Weiss was apparently trekking up a mountain to learn ice magic. And here she was unable to even get to the starting line._

 _She'd let her team down before. She'd ran when they'd found out what she was and nearly got herself and Sun killed at the docks. She'd only brought them in on her crusade against the White Fang because Weiss had called her out on it, and even then, she'd nearly run herself into the ground before Yang stepped in. She was in no way responsible for their current crisis, but she owed them far too much to hold them all back._

" _Just teach me something," she demanded. "I don't care what it is, I just need to get stronger and fast."_

 _Mira frowned. "It's not that simple."_

" _What do you mean? I thought you said any magic could be learned?"_

" _Any magic can be learned," the silver-haired barmaid confirmed. "But that doesn't mean it can be learned easily. After they learn to absorb ethernano, most wizards quickly show aptitude for some specific style, similar to a person having natural talent in strength or speed. They can train their other abilities, but their chosen style will be far easier to grow. If you wish to grow at the speed you're talking about, finding your natural magic may help a bit more."_

" _Argh!" Blake sighed, throwing up her hands and smacking her face into the guildhall bar. "Why can't anything ever be simple? I want to fight injustice, I end up helping turn my parents' civil rights group into a terrorist organization. I try to leave that organization and redeem myself as a huntress, I end up seeing exactly how low they've sunken and I'm pretty sure my psychotic ex-partner is waiting for the chance to gut me. Except he can't because, oh yeah, I'm in another dimension where I'm the only faunus on the planet!"_

" _What's a faunus?"_

 _Blake's face went death white. She raised her head and repeatedly smacked her face into the bar counter. "And- ow- I- ow- just- ow- said- ow- that- ow- out- ow- loud. Ow. Why am I still doing this?!"_

 _All three Strauss siblings winced sympathetically at the huntress' frustration. Eventually, after many pointed glares from his sisters, Elfman coughed nervously and strode towards the girl, placing a hulking hand atop her head both to comfort her and keep her from smacking the counter again._

" _Stop that talk. It's unmanly." the burly wizard demanded. Blake glared him in the eye and his expression softened. "Look, I may not know what a faunus is, but I know a thing or two about blaming myself. For a long time, I thought I was responsible for Lisanna's death."_

 _Blake glanced over at the girl in question, who sheepishly waved back. The huntress cocked an eyebrow. "Isn't she right there?"_

" _I was stuck in another dimension for a while," the silver-haired girl explained. "Big Sis Mira had brought us along on an S Class mission. Big brother Elf absorbed a monster he wasn't ready for and lost control. I tried to calm him down and… well…"_

 _Blake's eyes widened. She glanced between the eldest two of the family. Despite their little sister's presence, both Mira and Elfman had shadows across their faces, all too familiar regret painted in their eyes. They had been lucky enough to get their sibling back, but they had had no way of knowing that would be the case before they'd received their miracle. For who knew how long, they'd thought they'd killed their baby sister._

" _I'm sorry," she said remorsefully. "I didn't know."_

" _It's alright," Mira told her, replacing her bright, cheerful smile. She shuffled forward and gently removed Elfman's hand from Blake's head, replacing it with her own gentle grip. "I know the path ahead isn't as simple as we wish it was. But you aren't alone in it. You're part of Fairy Tail, now and forever. And even if we can't help you deal with all that craziness you were apparently dealing with back on your world, we are going to help you get there. And then, you're going to crush all of that yourself. Well, you and your team, but I think that goes without saying."_

 _Blake chuckled, the ghost of a grin crossing her face. It wasn't too different from the speech they'd all gotten from Erza after the duel, but somehow Mira spoke the words with such quiet confidence that they still stirred a fluttering hope with the huntress' heart. She noted that Mira was the only wizard who had taken to tutoring Team RWBY who wasn't a part of the Strongest Team Wendy had mentioned when the four had first arrived. Perhaps she should have found that curious, the barmaid didn't seem to display the same overt power that Erza or Natsu did. Yet, every time she looked into her compassionate blue eyes, like sapphire oceans of kindness, she felt like she could come to no harm._

 _Mira noticed the serene look on her face and giggled. She softly patted the top of Blake's head._

 _Which just happened to be on top of her black bow. Which instantly twitched playfully at the comforting gesture._

 _Blake's eyes shot open. Mira, Elfman, and Lisanna all tilted their heads, confusion evident in their expressions._

" _Blake, did your bow just move?" Elfman asked carefully._

 _The huntress paled for an instant. They'd find out, they'd learn what she was. They'd call her a freak and throw out the rest of the team when they tried to protect her—_

 _Wait. They had literal talking cats, what the heck was she thinking?_

 _In fact, putting aside the guild's full acceptance of the Exceeds, they had shown absolutely no care towards anything different about Team RWBY. Heck, they'd taken the revelation that the girls were from another dimension without even batting an eye. Why would they care about an extra pair of ears?_

 _Still, she'd spent her entire life hiding from humans, or shouting at them to stop as they pelted her with hate and stones. That instinct, the instinct to conceal who she was just to… just to make it easier, it wasn't an easy thing to discard._

" _Blake?" Mira inquired softly._

 _The huntress starred up into the wizard's eyes once more, and once more saw no judgment, just earnest concern and infinite kindness, perhaps with a hint of curiosity to galvanize it._

" _May we see what's under your bow? Or if you'd rather not, we can just forget it and—"_

" _No," Blake decided then and there. If she was going to trust these people to help her get her friends home, she needed to let them know everything. "You can take it off."_

 _Mira nodded and gingerly grasped the loose strand of the bow. A gentle pull later, and the whole thing unraveled, revealing two twitching black cat ears._

 _Blake waited for the worst, the gasps of horror, the shouts of decrement, the—_

" _Cuuuuttttteeee!"_

…

 _Huh?_

 _In the blink of an eye, Mira had grabbed onto the feline ears and begun gleefully petting them, squealing like a schoolgirl the entire time._

" _Cute, cute, cute, cute, cute!" she cheered. "Oh, they're even cuter than before!"_

" _Hey, stop that!" Blake demanded, batting away the barmaid's arms. "They're sensitive, you just can't—wait. Before? You knew?"_

 _Mira blushed and embarrassedly scratched the back of her head. "Your bow fell off after you guys passed out in master's office. We didn't know if you had it on for a reason, so Lucy found it and tied it back on. We figured you'd let us know what it was about when you were ready."_

" _I was hoping you'd show us after a while, but I'm glad you didn't take too long," Elfman revealed, flashing her a thumbs up and an approving grin. "Good thing too. Those things are manly! Why would you ever want to hide them?"_

 _Blake blinked numbly at the siblings' revelation, touched by their acceptance but also reminded just how uncommon it was back home by their confusion. She sighed. "On Remnant, people like me, people born with some kind of animal trait, are called faunus. Let's just say that our relationship with the humans of our world hasn't always been the best. Before I met the rest of my team, I didn't have any human friends. And now, now I'm in a world where I'm the only faunus on the planet."_

 _Mira and Elfman's eyes widened, realization shooting through their eyes._

 _Lisanna, however, merely frowned. She trotted up to Blake and stared her straight in the eye. "That's a silly thing to worry about."_

 _Blake frowned. "What?"_

" _Lisanna," Mira scolded. "It's not silly to Blake."_

" _Let me explain," Lisanna requested. She turned back to Blake, a softer look in her eyes. "I've been where you are, or at least a similar place. During my time in Edolas, I felt like I didn't belong. I wasn't in my world, my guild, and sometimes the loneliness was suffocating, even when I was surrounded by people who loved me. I couldn't shake the feeling that I just shouldn't have been there. I imagine it's even worse for you if you're so focused on the lack of faunus."_

" _It's part of who I am," Blake declared proudly. "I'm can't just forget that."_

" _I'm not saying you should. But it's not all you are," Lisanna pointed out. "For the first few months in Edolas, all I could think about was getting home. I saw the other versions of all my family and all I could think was that I needed to get back to my versions. And it almost drove me insane. If you only focus on what isn't, you'll lose yourself before you ever get the chance to go home. I learned to appreciate the Mira and Elfman I had at the time, to love that Fairy Tail as much as I do this one. If you're going to get where you want to go, you need to take in where you are and enjoy what there is to enjoy."_

 _Blake opened her mouth to argue but found herself shutting it a moment later. Lisanna's advice was annoyingly similar to the wisdom Yang had imparted to her before the dance. And despite the far more extreme situation, the words still weren't wrong. Yes, she was the only one of her species on Earthland, but she was hardly alone. Team RWBY had sworn to stand by her and her friends hadn't let her down yet. And with their induction into the guild, it seemed that had gained even more support in Fairy Tail._

 _Lisanna winked at her, a peppy smile on her face. "And if you really want to see someone like you, I think I can provide something of a substitute."_

 _That got Blake's attention, her eyebrow shooting up in confusion. "What do you mean?"_

" _Just watch," Lisanna insisted, stepping back and taking a deep breath. "_ _ **Take Over: Ani**_ _—"_

" _Mira!"_

 _The entire party whirled around just as a massive cloud of dust rampaged through the guildhall, only to come to an instant halt right before the eldest Strauss, sending dirt billowing all throughout her long white hair._

" _Hi Loke," Mirajane greeted cheerfully, not even noticing that wind that just shot past her. "How are you? We haven't seen you around in a few days."_

 _Blake, not as immune to environmental hazards as the bartender, took a few moments to cough before getting a look at the new arrival. He was a fairly tall young man dressed in a fine looking suit, though a bit of scrutiny revealed that the jacket was loose enough to permit freedom of movement. He panted madly before Mira, his eyes wide with panic, his head full of orange hair bobbing up and down along with his… lion ears?_

 _Blake's eyes widened. She blinked to make sure she wasn't hallucinating, she had hit her head quite a few times. But when she renewed her vision, they were still there, sticking up from the man's head of wild orange hair were a pair of similarly colored lion ears._

" _He has…" she muttered._

 _Lisanna came up beside her and sighed. "Well, that wasn't what I was going for, but I suppose it's the same end result."_

" _What's up Loke?" Elfman called._

" _Hey, Elfman, Lisanna, beautiful girl with cat ears I've never seen before," the man, Loke, greeted quickly before turning back to the eldest Strauss. "Mira, is it true? Is one here?"_

" _Is who here?"_

" _The Spirit Slayer," Loke panicked, hushing his voice like speaking of some demon. "Lucy summoned me to deflect any stray fire from Natsu while he was training a very attractive blond girl and I asked her who said beauty was and she said she was a new member whose sister was a Spirit Slayer!"_

 _Mira smiled. "Oh, that's Ruby. She's off training with Erza right now. Would you like to meet her?"_

" _No!" Loke squealed._

 _Blake's eyes narrowed. "What's that supposed to mean? You've never even seen her, and you've already got something against her?"_

 _Loke turned towards Blake. The moment he set his eyes upon her, his whole demeanor changed. His worry evaporated, replaced by a confident suave charm. Honestly, it reminded her of a lion faunus Neptune._

" _I assure you, Ms., I have nothing against the newest member of our family," he assured her smoothly. "However, Lucy also mentioned that she is completely untrained in the use of her powers and given my kind's particular susceptibility to that rare gift, I would prefer to have myself and those like me give her a wide breadth for the time being."_

 _Blake's brow furrowed. The guy acted like a charmer but he seemed honest enough and she couldn't imagine any Fairy Tail member trying to hurt Ruby, not if it meant going against Erza and Master Makarov. And given that Ruby's lack of control over her eyes' power had been partially responsible for them even being in Fiore, there was a certain amount of sense to his logic._

 _Still, wasn't Ruby's magic focused on spirits? Why was this guy so afraid of her power? Was he a ghost or something?_

 _She was knocked out of her contemplation by Loke taking a knee before her and gingerly gripping her hand in his own._

" _Not to worry, Ms. With the Titania herself teaching her, I doubt it will be long before I can make your friend's acquaintance." He leaned forward to kiss her hand. "Just as it is already my pleasure to make yours."_

 _Blake's cheeks lit up in confusion, but that was nothing compared to the chaos that erupted when Loke's lips brushed her skin._

 _There was a sudden flash of light, power surged through her like a thunderbolt, energy pumping through her veins so fast that her entire form lit up a shining gold. Images flashed through her mind on a wave of stars._

 _A titanic man made of the night sky, his massive mustache flaring as he lashed out with a sword painted with galaxies._

 _A minister with long black hair, a thick brown book held protectively in his arms, elaborate golden lettering peeking out from his grasp. Behind him, contained within a blacken stone tower, trapped under a tomb of thick thorns and vines was a woman, an ethereal lady brimming with the radiance of a star, her shining golden hair slowly weakening to a soft pale yellow._

 _A lion, shining like a guiding light, on his knees before a handsome man in rich green armor, a majestic staff in his grip with some sort of crystal at the tip. He leaned forward and helped the lion to its feet, a look of concern in his hazel eyes._

 _Suddenly, everything blinked out. Blake found herself flying back, slamming hard into the shelves behind the bar, dozens of glass shards bouncing of her hastily raised aura. She panted hard, clutching the hand Loke had kissed hard to her chest._

" _Blake!" Lisanna called, leaping over the counter._

 _She rushed over and helped the startled huntress to her feet. Blake frantically glanced around the hall. Where she and Loke had been mere moments before, Mira was lowering a demonic arm, a disgruntled frown marring her face._

 _Loke himself was coughing madly in a pile of splinters that had probably once been a table. Elfman ran over and helped him stand up, the lion man sagging into his larger friend's arms. His cool façade was gone, replaced by a look of absolute horror._

 _His terrified gaze locked onto Blake. "Wha… what did you just do? I feel so… so weak…"_

" _You were lucky," Mira revealed, her demonic arm evaporating in a flash of light. "If I hadn't separated you when I did, she would have absorbed your entire being."_

" _I would have what?" Blake stammered. "But I didn't do anything! I swear I wasn't trying to… he just touched and then—"_

" _It felt like you were being flooded with energy unlike anything you'd ever imagined," Mira finished. She grimaced at Blake, pity adorning her face. "I know. It's not your fault. It happens to all of us when we first make contact with what we absorb."_

 _Lisanna chuckled sheepishly. "Well… um… at least we know what your magic is now, right?"_

" _What are you talking about?" Blake asked desperately. She strode past Lisanna's calming hand and advanced on Mira "What was that? Why did I blast him halfway across the room—ah!"_

 _Blake jumped back, a brilliant golden glow encompassing her hand. The light churned and swirled for a moment forming into the likeness of a lion, roaring into the air._

 _Loke's eyes widened. "That's Regulus. But how—"_

" _Take Over Magic," Mira explained. "If I had to guess, Spirit Soul."_

" _Take Over?" Blake whispered fearfully, desperately pleading for the light around her hand to fade._

" _It's the same type of magic that we have," Elfman explained. "It lets us absorb the power and souls of a certain type of being. Lisanna works with animals, I do magical beasts, and Big Sis Mira absorbs demons."_

" _And given what you nearly did to Loke, I'd say you can control and consume spirits, just like Ruby can slay them," Mira finished._

" _Then why aren't I... you know, inside her," Loke inquired, cringing at his unwanted innuendo. "I didn't think you guys could go halfway with this sort of thing."_

 _Lisanna frowned. "Did you seriously think I went around taking the souls of innocent animals just to make myself stronger?"_

" _Well, uh…"_

" _Are you calling my little sister a little animal killer? I thought you were manlier than that."_

" _No, that's not…"_

" _I'm sorry!" Blake shouted. Loke and the Strauss' immediately turned to her, though she found she couldn't meet the lion man's eyes. She may not have appreciated his first impression but she hadn't wanted to hurt him. "I… I wasn't trying to hurt you. I just… I just…"_

 _Loke flashed her a reassuring smile. He fudged himself out of Elfman's grip and limped his way to the bar, collapsing on a stool a bit away. "No worries. It was an accident. Everyone has a little trouble with their magic starting out. I know you didn't mean any harm."_

" _I almost killed you!"_

" _You aren't the first," Loke chuckled. "It may be hard to believe, what with my dashing good looks and all, but I've been alive for quite a long time. If I got mad at every friend that nearly accidentally killed me, I'd never have time to be happy."_

" _Friend?" Blake queried. "You just met me."_

 _Loke pointed to the black emblem on her hand. "You're a member of the guild. That makes you a friend of mine."_

 _Again, Blake found herself amazed by that simple but somehow truthful logic. Relief flooded through her. "Thank you."_

" _No problem."_

 _Loke's brow furrowed. "Though, there is one thing. Correct me if I'm wrong Mira, but Take Over Magic lets the user see the target's memories, right?"_

 _Mira nodded. "After full absorption, the wizard would have as much access to their target's mind as they do their own. Though, since Blake didn't get that far, I doubt she got anything."_

" _There was something," Blake revealed. "There were just flashes though, a bunch of images. I'm not sure what."_

 _Loke paled. He gulped and stretched the collar of his suit. "Images… well, that's… um… I just want you to know, if there's a ram woman in any of them wearing… less than one would expect... that is a completely different lion Celestial Spirit doing that stuff with her."_

 _Blake immediately flushed, though she suspected it was for a different reason that Elfman and Lisanna's paling faces. She hadn't exactly had the chance to bring any of her Ninjas of Love books with her when they'd crossed dimensions, and she admitted (privately, in her mind, where Yang would never find out), that she did, in fact, wish she'd seen a few of the memories Loke described rather than the mess she'd seen._

" _Oh, that reminds me," Mira called cheerfully. "Now that we know what Blake's natural magic is, we can start her training."_

 _Blake smirked victoriously. Nearly traumatic her discovery of her abilities might have been, she had reached the same starting level as her teammates. Now all they had to do was increase their strength and then they would be all set to go after Tartaros. And after that, they'd be one step away from getting home._

 _She might have been less excited had she seen Elfman and Lisanna go even whiter._

" _Um, Bis Sis…_

" _Maybe, we should have someone else handle it, Mira?"_

 _Mira pouted. "Nonsense. If there's one thing I know how to do, it's training Take Over wizards. I taught the two of you, didn't I?"_

 _This time, Blake wasn't able to miss the haunted looks that passed across the younger Strauss siblings' eyes. The cat faunus cocked a worried eyebrow at the display._

" _Good. Now go grab the buckles from the house. The case should be under my bed. I'll need you to help too, Loke. Blake will need to practice taking some of your power without nearly absorbing you. We don't have a ghost or something for her to go all the way on and I'm guessing it'd be more difficult with any of Lucy's weaker spirits."_

" _What about Aquarius?"_

" _Would she help?"_

" _Probably not. Still, it sounds dangerous. But you know I can never say no to you, Mira."_

" _Thank you. I'll run it by Lucy before we get started, just to make sure she's okay with it," the barmaid smiled. She strode over to Blake and pulled her into a crushing hug. "Oh, I'm so happy you're like us Blake! I promise I'm going to make you the best Take Over wizard your world has ever seen!"_

" _My… world… doesn't… have… wizards…" Blake choked out._

 _Still, even as her bones cracked and her mind feverishly trained to figure out why Elfman and Lisanna were terrified of their own sister's training, she still had hope. They had a direction and they knew where they were going. They just had to get there._

 _But hey, she'd been aiming for impossible goals like faunus equality since she was old enough to walk. What was one more for the pile? It just meant another one she would have to make reality._

 _They all would._

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

Cinder smirked proudly, confident that everything was going according to plan.

The virus she'd had Watts create to hack Beacon's systems and find the Fall Maiden had failed in its primary task quite spectacularly. She couldn't even blame the fop of a scientist since, of course, Ozpin hadn't had Amber's location on any server that the CCT could access. The Queen had said he was arrogant, not a complete moron.

Still, she'd been provided an open access point to insert any additional programming or viruses she wished, something she'd had Watts get to work on immediately. The good doctor had been annoyed at being distracted from his work on the Ascension Chamber, but if she obtained the Fall Maiden's power, she wouldn't need the new model for the process. She would fully claim her seat on the Gates herself.

It didn't matter that Qrow Branwen had arrived, he hadn't been able to see their faces thanks to Emerald's illusions. And if Ozpin's little cabal had no idea where the danger was coming from, they would never see the dagger in their backs. Teacher had taught her that and it had served her as well as it had her trainer. The Queen's plans would not be stopped in any of the kingdoms.

And she fully intended to seek her dominion through them. Even now, she felt her portion of the maiden's power churl within her, hungry to be reunited with its other half, to be wielded by a worthy master. She would grant its wish and through the act become stronger than almost any other being on Remnant. And then, no one would control her ever again.

"Mam?"

Cinder glanced towards the door of her dorm room, Emerald carefully entering and shutting the entrance behind her. A saddle bag swayed at her hip.

"I trust everything went well?"

Emerald nodded, grappling with the bag. "I had a close call when I ran into two of those bozos from Team SSSN, but I blurred my face. They shouldn't have any idea we have this."

She revealed her prize and Cinder smiled.

The black book did look quite lovely, what with its strange mixture of Salem's emblem, the star, and those strange crossed hammers on the cover. Of course, its appeal for her was more in the sheer power sealed with, just waiting to be activated by the correct trigger, though what that was she had not been told. With the miasma of ill intent that seeped off its magic, she'd thought it was some sort of assassination device the Queen wished for her to use on Ozpin. Suffice to say, she'd been quite puzzled when her mistress had sent it after her report on the Breach with specific instructions to place it in Team RWBY's possession.

Nevertheless, one did not refuse the Mother of Grimm and she'd had Emerald sneak the tome into their dorm room while they were out setting up the Vytal Festival. And when the order had come through to have the book retrieved when she next saw the foolish girls, she'd ascended to that confounding command as well. She hadn't expected the little huntresses to mysteriously disappear for three days, but in time, Emerald had stolen the text back as easily as she'd delivered it. She was competent that way. Cinder never thought she'd support anyone as a candidate, but both her little thief and Mercury had proven themselves as useful as she'd hoped. Besides, it wouldn't hurt to have more of the Gates in her debt.

In the meantime, she would return Salem's tool to her and get on with her own plans to annihilate a kingdom. Power wouldn't seize itself after all.

And she would have all of it.

* * *

 **Oh no! Juvia is going to ask Gajeel for advice! The world is doomed!**

 **Oh, and Cinder is doing things too, but Juvia!**

 **This chapter ended up being a lot harder to write than I expected. It has a good chunk of seeds in it along with sbutle ripples beginning to spread out and hints to Weiss' magic and the reveal of Blake's, but I had an irritating time writing Winter's section trying to figure out what Ironwood would be willing to tell her and Blake's section, while fun, ended up being longer than I expected. Fortunately, Weiss and Juvia's parts were an absolute treat.**

 **A huge thank you to my patrons: ArcherMcMuffin, Gregg Tracton, Keith Traction and Cool guy.**

 **Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!**

 **Go Forth and Conquer!**


	6. Chapter 5

**The chapter of December is here... in January...**

 **Happy New Year! Important Announcement after the chapter.**

 **If you wish to support me and my college tuition, please check out my P a treon for future chapter summaries, story ideas and more: p a Treon.(c om) (backslash) themaster4444**

* * *

"What do you mean you lost the book?" Ruby panicked. "How could you lose the book?"

"I'm sorry," Blake replied guiltily. "One second it was there, the next it wasn't."

Ruby sighed. She, Blake, and Weiss were standing right outside their dorm, the latter two having pulled her out of a video game session with Uncle Qrow to inform her of the new development, Yang volunteering to keep their uncle busy (which meant getting her butt handed to her in _Ultimate Ninja Master 4)_ while they talked magic. Which coincidentally would have included the bit surrounding her uncle if Blake hadn't come back with the worst news ever.

"What about this girl Sun and Neptune saw?" Weiss inquired. "Have they remembered anything else about her? Any features or traits we can use to track her down?"

"Nothing," Blake hissed. "If they are the person who put the book in our room in the first place, they're obviously a master of stealth. No one noticed them back then either and the room's lock didn't show any signs of tampering."

"Then how did they get in?" Ruby growled. "Do they have some kind of magic that lets them walk through walls or something?"

Weiss and Blake's eyebrows furrowed in thought.

"Wait seriously? I was just throwing ideas out there."

"It's probably not intangibility. They wouldn't have needed to go out the library's front door if it was," Weiss noted. "But we can't rule out some kind of magic. After all, there's ethernano in the air, and we know this person must have been communicating with Earthland somehow if they got the book from Sitara."

"And we have been sensing pockets of magical energy all around the school," Blake agreed. "There's that patch that's wandering around, flaring up and disappearing at random points."

"Yeah, I noticed that," Ruby said. "It feels like some sort of elemental magic from the bits I've been able to feel, but I can't seem to get a clear read on what kind of power it is. But, if the user knows enough to suppress it, they're probably involved somehow. You know, unless they're part of a secret underground wizard society that's here to announce themselves to the world by winning the Vytal Festival."

Weiss and Blake both stared at their leader.

"It could happen!"

"No, Ruby," Weiss replied. "It really couldn't."

Her partner turned to their feline teammate. "So we keep an eye out for this elementalist, hope that they specialize in fire or ice so Yang or I can deal with them without too much trouble, what else?"

"Other than that massive collection of dormant power floating above Beacon Tower," Blake pointed out deadpan.

"Other than that," Weiss confirmed. "We don't have any way of getting that high without drawing serious attention to ourselves. It's dormant, so it shouldn't be dangerous at the moment. And if… whatever it is, wakes up, and doesn't want to be friendly, we'll deal with it."

"Yeah!" Ruby cheered, high fiving Weiss. "We'll blast it with everything we've got!"

Blake cocked an eyebrow. "And if that doesn't work?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. And hope Ms. Goodwitch doesn't get mad at us for breaking the courtyard."

"Speaking of the courtyard," Weiss began, glaring at the back of Ruby's head. "Why does your drunk uncle have more transformation magic floating off him than alcohol?"

"That… is a very good question that I do not have an answer to," Ruby confessed, nervously rubbing the back of her head. "He's never done any magic before, at least not that I've seen. But I haven't always been able to sense magic either, so maybe he's always been a wizard? I mean, he's Uncle Qrow. He's easily awesome enough to be a wizard."

"Crazy enough at least," Weiss muttered. She heaved out an exhausted sigh. "We've been back for a day and already things are going insane."

"Things have always been insane," Blake pointed out. "We're just able to notice it now."

Ruby's eyes narrowed in thought. "About that, I think Uncle Qrow might know something's up."

"Again Ruby, did the transformation magic not give it away?"

"No, it's more than that," Ruby protested. "He was asking me and Yang stuff. I mean, we didn't have our guildmarks the last time he saw us, so it makes sense he'd ask where we got them, but… I don't know, some of his questions and the things he mentioned were… specific."

Blake cocked an eyebrow. "Like what?"

"Well, he said our marks looked like 'a bird or some weird _fairy_ '."

Weiss' eyes narrowed. "The drunk knows something."

Ruby nodded. "I think we should tell him about our magic."

"What?" Blake exclaimed. "Ruby, we can't do that."

"Why not? We weren't planning on keeping it a secret in the first place. We literally told Jaune and the others about it."

"That was before we knew there was some sort of crazy conspiracy going on," Weiss argued. "What if he works for some insane Tartaros offshoot and he sets you up to be experimented on?"

Blake sighed. "Probably a bit of an exaggeration, but the point is good. How do you know this is safe, Ruby?"

"Because he's my uncle," Ruby stated as if it were obvious. "He'd never do anything to hurt me or Yang in a million years."

Weiss and Blake paused for a moment before sighing.

"Meaning we're the only ones who'll get experimented on," Weiss muttered. "Fine, tell him. I'm going to be late for meeting Winter if this goes on any longer anyway."

"I'll see what I can do about tracking down the book or that elementalist," Blake declared. "With any luck, one will lead to the other."

"Right," Ruby smiled. "I'll tell Uncle Qrow about everything, and then head over to Team JNPR's for their lessons."

"That reminds me," Weiss said. "What exactly are you planning to teach them?"

Ruby shrugged. "Taking in ethernano, sensing magical energy, the basics. They'll have to figure out their specialties on their own. Why?"

"No reason. Just, try not to push them as hard as Erza pushed you when you were just starting out."

"What are you talking about?" Ruby inquired, one eyebrow cocked. "Erza was the best teacher I could have asked for."

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

" _Dodge!"_

" _Yes mam— ah!"_

" _I said dodge, not speak! Your enemy will not give you time to mince words!"_

 _Ruby bit her lip to keep from responding again, firing another shot from Crescent Rose to blast her away from another round of swords. The blades of Erza's Circle Sword crashed all around her, driving the nimble huntress farther and farther across the walls of Magnolia Canyon._

 _Erza frowned at the canyon's base, her angelic Heaven's Wheel Armor shining like a divine goddess under the light of the sun. A dozen swords of various makes and temperaments floated in the air around the Queen of the Fairies. One after another, they rapidly fired off at Ruby, each blade tearing through the sky, getting closer and closer to the huntress' body, several of the projectiles smashing against her and forcing her aura to flicker crimson. And once they flew past and exploded the rockface of the canyon, Erza merely willed another weapon to take its place from her arsenal._

" _Come on, Ruby," Wendy whispered, the wizard girl observing the training from atop the canyon. "You can do it."_

" _She isn't going to have an easy time of it," Carla noted from beside her partner. "She's picked up the basics of requip quite easily but applying it in combat is another matter entirely. She will only have a split second to conjure her weapons and that's while Erza's swords are flying about distracting her. She's falling back on her instincts and wasting that dust of hers."_

 _Wendy cringed at the Exceed's assessment, knowing it was an accurate one. While the Sky Dragon Slayer had no love for combat, she had, unfortunately, gained a talent for it since joining Fairy Tail, the guild's constant brawls requiring at least a basic skill of reading a battlefield to escape from unscathed. And from her bird's eye view, it easy to tell just how poorly the spar was going for her new friend._

 _Erza wasn't going all out, but she was still pressing her assault on Ruby. The huntress continuously used her weapon to evade the onslaught but caught in the heat of the moment, she ha failed to notice that her trainer was directing her retreat. With the sniper rifle built into Crescent Rose, it would be in the red hooded girl's best interest to move farther into the canyon, get outside of Erza's range so that she could attack with impunity. Instead, the blades firing upon her had corralled the girl towards the canyon wall, trapping her between the rockface and the barrage of swords._

 _Another round was fired, twelve blades thrust through the air. Wendy worriedly bit her lip, the trajectory of the oncoming weapons combined with Ruby's current twisted position meaning Crescent Rose wouldn't be able to block them all. If she wanted to get out of the attack without her whittled aura breaking, she needed to summon a weapon from her pocket dimension to deflect the remaining sword or unleash the power of her slayer magic. She couldn't win without magic._

 _Or at least, that was what Wendy had thought._

 _It was so fast, the blue-haired girl nearly missed it, but Ruby's body… transformed, into a whirlwind of rose petals, whisking around the incoming steel before near instantly reforming on the other side and rocketing forward at an incredible speed. For those few seconds, Wendy was pretty sure she had Jet outpaced by a wide margin._

 _Of course, accelerating to that speed didn't help much when it was aimed towards the ground. Ruby smacked into the dirt, faint clouds of dust and rose petals rising up behind her as she bounced across the ground._

" _Ruby!" Wendy yelled. "Carla, please get me down there!"_

 _Her partner immediately hopped onto her back and summoned her wings, swiftly flying them both down to the canyon floor._

" _You really don't need to worry so much, Wendy," Carla comforted her. "She still has aura left and that is hardly the heaviest hit we've seen her take."_

 _Wendy didn't respond, running over to her friend as soon as she hit the ground, Erza striding forward right behind her, his armor disappearing in a flash back to her casual blouse._

" _Ow," Ruby groaned, rubbing the top of her head as she rose to a sitting position. The air beside her flashed white and one of the swords Erza had lent her to start her requip dimension plopped onto the ground. "Oh, yay. At least I was doing that right."_

" _Let me check you over," Wendy ordered. She lit up her hands with faint blue healing magic and ran them lightly over Ruby's scalp._

" _Wendy, there's no need for that," Ruby protest lightly. "It's not like I actually got hit by any of the swords."_

" _Let her look you over," Erza commanded, her arms crossed. "Training won't be made any easier if you have a concussion you don't know about."_

 _Ruby pouted indignantly. "I don't have a concussion."_

" _That you know about," Erza repeated. "Don't rush through this, Ruby. You've made spectacular progress learning the basics of requip magic but learning to apply it in combat is not something you will master overnight. Perhaps I have been pushing you too hard. Until you're able to requip at the speed battle will require, we'll withhold on trying to use it as such."_

" _No!" Ruby protested, jumping to her feet. "We can't slow down. We need to go again, I can do it this time. I'm just not used to blocking when I can dodge."_

" _A wise strategy," Erza praised. "I will see what I can do to come up with an alternative training exercise, one that plays into your strengths as a long-range fighter. However, you are far from only a sniper. You exchanged many close-range blows with Natsu during your duel and to assist you there you will need to be able to summon the most suitable piece of your arsenal at the drop of a hat. The first step of which is gaining the necessary speed of manifestation."_

 _Ruby scowled. "So, I'm even farther away from getting everyone home."_

" _Closer than you would be if you tried to rush your training and got hurt because of it."_

 _Wendy gingerly removed her hands with a relieved smile. "The good news is that you don't have a concussion. Don't worry, you're already incredible with your scythe and that move you used to dissipate into rose petals. I'm sure you'll get the speed you need in no time."_

" _Aw, thanks Wendy, that means a lot—dissipate into what?" Ruby stuttered. "What are you talking about Wendy? My semblance? That's just superspeed." She dashed away and then came back, snatching one of the many resultant petals in her wake. "This is just a weird byproduct."_

" _No, I saw it," Wendy sputtered, waving the red flowers out of her face. "It was just for a moment, but you would have run into the sword if you hadn't broken apart and then come back together. Even just now, you were apart for a second and then you shot forward when you came back together."_

 _Ruby's eyes widened. She stared amazed at her own hands. "Are… are you sure? No one's ever seen anything like that before when I use my semblance."_

" _Dragon Slayers have far superior senses to most people," Erza noted, scratching her chin in thought. "I didn't notice anything, but if the period of transformation is so brief, then it is possible that no one was ever able to see it, especially with all the petals you release on your own."_

 _She smacked her fist into her palm, startling Wendy and Ruby. "This is excellent! With this new information, you can come up with new ways to exploit this facet of your abilities, perhaps even fuse it with your magic!"_

" _Wait, what?" Ruby gasped. "Don't you think we should focus on my magic? I mean, I've gotten along fine with my semblance as it is for years, why… why…"_

" _Because it is part of your arsenal," Erza stated. "It's not just your weapons, Ruby. Your skills, your training, your intelligence, your force of will, everything you can bring to bear is a tool in your arsenal. Your mind can produce strategies that utilize everything you have to its fullest extent, in ways no one else would have thought of."_

 _She knelt down and gestured to the rose covered ground, plucking a petal between her fingertips. "Even just as it is, your semblance provides you with far more opportunities than just speed. If you were to cover the battlefield in these petals, your opponent would be forced to divert attention to make sure they kept their footing as they walked over them."_

" _It's not exactly an oil slick," Ruby muttered. "Besides, why should we put waste any time on my semblance when I'm not even ready to use my magic in a fight?"_

" _Because you already know how to use your semblance in a fight," Erza bluntly stated, returning to her feet, an eyebrow raised in confusion. "Both in your magic and your other abilities, we need to move forward step by step. It just so happens that you're farther along with your semblance."_

 _Ruby sighed. "Right. Right, that makes sense."_

 _Wendy frowned. "Ruby, are you okay?"_

" _What? Of course, I am. You said I didn't have a concussion."_

" _No," Wendy persisted. "Are you 'okay'?"_

" _I'm… I'm fine, Wendy, I promise," Ruby breathed out. "I just feel like I'm letting everyone down."_

" _What? No, you're not!" Wendy insisted. "You're putting everything you have into getting stronger."_

" _But it's not enough! Not fast enough!" Ruby declared. "The others, they're here because of me. Because I picked up the book and my stupid eyes activated it and they tried to get it away from me. I failed them and I'm their leader. I'm not allowed to fail! I'm grateful for everything you guys have done for us, for letting us be a part of Fairy Tail, for giving us a home here. But I need to do more and my semblance isn't enough. But magic can be, I know it. I need to get stronger faster, so I can—"_

" _Protect them." Erza interceded, a morose, understanding look on her face. "Save them all. Be their armor against all the evils of the world."_

 _Ruby and Wendy both blinked in shock, even Carla stunned at the Titania's solemn words._

" _I understand what you're feeling right now, Ruby," Erza continued. A dark glint tinted her eyes. "Suffice to say, my childhood was… unpleasant, before I joined the guild. I experienced things no one should ever have to go through, suffered more pain than many could ever imagine. But at the time, there were others with me I cared about more than that. I was determined to get them to safety, to protect them. And that determination, combined with the trials I went through, led to my unlocking power I could only have dreamed of."_

" _Yes," Ruby swore softly, her cheer kept in check by her teacher's serious expression. "That power, the one you gained, that's what I need to get to beat Tartaros, to get my team home. Can you help me get it?"_

" _I'm not finished," Erza informed her. "Despite the new power I gained, I was not able to save the people I cared about, and indeed, lost the one I cared about the most to a fate I could not comprehend at the time. As I result, when I came to Fairy Tail, though I cared about my guildmates more than anything, I kept myself somewhat distant from them, reserved. Mira and I didn't get along for quite a while because of that. I pushed myself harder than any sane person should have, training until my bones cracked and pushing on even then. It seemed to pay off at the time. I was S Class by the time I was sixteen."_

 _Wendy gasped. She'd known Erza was strong since before she'd even met her, the name Titania whispered in awe among even the illusionary wizards of Cait Shelter. When she'd met her, those same rumors had seemed to be understated if anything. She'd been caring as well as strong, comforting Wendy when Cait Shelter had disappeared, and her entire world was turned upside down. But she'd never truly considered just how Erza had come to be as she was. She knew that she had a complicated past with Jellal and some place called the Tower of Heaven that Lucy told her not to talk about, but beyond that… she really didn't know anything about her past._

" _I don't see what the problem was," Ruby confessed. "You gained the power to protect your friends. Why shouldn't I do the same?"_

" _Because pushing yourself like that, past your breaking point, taking everything upon your shoulders and your shoulders alone, it is not healthy."_

" _I'm their leader! Everything is on my shoulders!"_

" _Then all you do is isolate yourself from them," Erza declared. "If you put everything on yourself, as I once did, desperately try to be the armor of those you love, all you'll end up doing is forcing them to protect you when you inevitably can't handle everything. You may be the leader, but you have a team, all of them wonderfully skilled. You cannot help them if you break yourself training to fight their battles for them."_

 _Ruby looked away, her silver eyes mired in torment. "I'm not allowed to fail."_

" _I'm not saying you have to," Erza smiled, placing a firm, comforting hand on the red hooded girl's shoulder. "But not every delay is a setback. There is nothing wrong with training hard, but don't try to skip steps you need. A few days to safely perfect your requiping speed will not cost your teammates their lives. Indeed, it more likely will save them."_

 _Ruby paused for a moment, but soon enough she brought her head up for a stalwart nod. "I think I understand."_

" _Good. Requip can give you an arsenal like no other, but in the end, no matter how many weapons you have, no one can do everything alone," Erza said._

" _And you won't be alone," Wendy confirmed joyfully. "You have your team, and your team has us. We'll help you every step of the way."_

 _Ruby smiled at them both. "Thank you, guys."_

" _Excellent," Erza cheered. "Now then, I believe we are due for a break."_

 _The knight lifted up her hand, the light of her magic flashing in her grip. When it faded, she held a hefty picnic basket._

" _Yay!" Ruby chanted, sparkles in her silver eyes. "Food!"_

 _Wendy chuckled lightly, and the quartet happily laid a checkered blanket down to eat. Carla sighed when Erza pulled out the meals she'd packed for herself and Ruby: strawberries, strawberry jam sandwiches on strawberry bread, strawberry milk, and, for dessert, strawberry cheesecake._

" _Did you pack anything even remotely resembling a vegetable?"_

 _Erza scowled. "Vegetables… what has anyone ever gained by eating those?"_

" _Quite a bit!" the Exceed protested. "They are growing girls! How are they supposed to get stronger if all you feed them is this junk?"_

" _Elementary, dear Carla!" Ruby declared, grandiosely holding out a pink bottle. "We'll drink milk!"_

 _Carla dropped her face into her palm. "There is more to a balanced diet than milk."_

" _Blasphemy!" Ruby shouted. She instantly chugged the entire bottle of strawberry milk, finishing with a content sigh and a pink mustache over her lip. "Ah. I feel stronger already."_

 _Wendy tried to cover her mouth to be polite, but in the end, could not stop herself from exploding with laughter._

" _What? What is it?" Ruby asked._

" _I'm… I'm sorry," Wendy said through her giggles. "It's just… you look so silly… with a mustache."_

" _Mustache?"_

" _Yes. You have a milk mustache."_

 _Ruby's face lit up with mischievousness. She leapt to her feet and stood straight up, a hand behind her back to support her posture. She wiggled her coated upper lip. "Hohohoho! I am Professor Port! I am the greatest huntsman who has ever lived! I tell really long stories that make awesome huntsman stuff sound boring! Want to hear about the time I killed a Beringel with nothing but a shoe and my marmalade-soaked body?"_

 _Wendy absolutely burst out laughing. She didn't know what a Beringel was or even who this Professor Port person was, but Ruby's deep voice impression of them was hilarious. Even Carla cracked a smile._

 _Erza raised an eyebrow. "What is this 'Beringel'?"_

" _Oh, it's a type of Grimm. Pretty rare, but one of the more dangerous types," Ruby informed them. She scratched the back of her hair. "I guess the closest comparison would be a really big gorilla. There are gorillas in this world, right?"_

" _Indeed, there are." Erza scoffed. "Marmalade, amateur. Everyone knows lemonade is far superior for gorilla wrestling."_

 _She stated that fact with utmost seriousness, a cold iron truth that would have rung even in the most irreverent of souls. Wendy knew that her words were to be taken to heart and recorded for future battles._

 _Ruby didn't. She fell to the ground from laughter._

 _Wendy cringed, but Erza smiled fondly at the huntress, so it must not have been too bad. Still, the Sky Dragon Slayer could not help but feel troubled, if not by her teammate's recent words than her earlier ones._

" _Erza, I'm sorry."_

 _The Queen of the Fairies raised an eyebrow. "Sorry? For what Wendy?"_

" _For not realizing how much you were putting on yourself, for not helping," the dragon slayer said. She was an enchanter, a healer. It was her job to support the others, it was the only thing she could do since her own combat skills were so far behind. Yet, she had taken for granted just how much Erza had protected her—_

 _Her moping was cut off when the older woman pulled her into a tight hug, full of warmth and undying affection. It felt like the ones Grandeeney used to give her._

" _Oh, Wendy," Erza cooed, her arms wrapped around Wendy's deep blue hair. "You have nothing to be sorry about. I put that burden on myself. Natsu, Gray, Lucy, and you, you all helped me relieve me of it, showed me that I didn't have to throw myself in front of you all to protect you. You all are more than capable of taking care of yourselves."_

" _What?" Wendy squealed. "Thank… thank you, but I'm… I'm not a fighter. I've never won a battle I've had to fight on my own."_

 _Erza smirked. "No, you just forced a draw with an opponent you couldn't hurt by healing them."_

" _That's still not a victory. Sherria was in control of the fight from beginning to end."_

" _You're too hard on yourself," Erza sighed. She pulled out of the hug and gently held Wendy in front of her, a warm smile on her face. "You used everything at your disposal to fight a battle most would have never thought you capable of fighting. You did everything you could, and it paid off. And the next time you need to, it will pay off again."_

 _Wendy frowned. "I'd rather not need to at all."_

" _That is a good sentiment to have. But in our line of work, there will always be a next time. It is an unfortunate reality."_

 _Wasn't that the truth. Wendy generally preferred lighter jobs as a wizard, finding lost items, healing the sick, and other not combat tasks. But since she'd joined Fairy Tail, she'd found herself embroiled in far more… violent events. She knew it wasn't the guild's fault, they only fought to protect themselves or others, but she still wasn't fond of the life or death battles._

 _Still, the only other option would be to abandon her friends, her family, to fight those battles alone and she most certainly would never do that. She was a Fairy Tail wizard._

" _Don't worry, Wendy," Ruby comforted her, handing her a jam sandwich. "We can deal with that stuff when it happens. For now, let's just enjoy ourselves. One step at a time, right?"_

 _Wendy smiled and took the sandwich. "One step at a time."_

" _Excellent!" Erza cheered. "Now then, my cake!"_

 _Carla shook her head with an amused smile on her face. "You both may wish to stand back."_

 _Ruby and Wendy did just that as Erza dove into the picnic basket gingerly withdrew an entire strawberry cake. A flash of requip later and an elegant fork was between her fingers. The young girls giggled and began their own meals as the knight basked in her favorite delicacy._

 _There were many battles ahead for them all. But they would not rush their lives. They would grow at their own pace, with faith in their friends. And those same friends would make those moments spent worthwhile._

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

Qrow hadn't thought much when Oz had told him his nieces may have joined some sort of magic cult. Ruby and Yang were smart enough not to get suckered into some scam and they certainly would join anything dangerous. They were his nieces, overeager rookies, but good kids, better than he had been at that age at least.

After meeting up with them though, he couldn't say for sure.

At first, everything had seemed fine. He'd been hugged, asked if he'd missed them, joked around, and whooped their butts at video games, his semblance ensuring that they always had the bad luck of their controllers responding just a second too slow. They'd been laughing just like they always had, with the obligatory question about their new tattoos (which he was _not_ going to be the one to tell Tai about) for Oz quickly reassured as being a team bonding exercise. A bit extreme, but Summer had convinced them all to braid each other's hair for an entire day, so it was hardly out of the realm of possibility.

No, what had piqued Qrow's interest was after that, when the girls had tried to brag about practically being real huntresses already. Yang had begun to mention something, some mission where she was nearly burned to a crisp, but Ruby had coughed and her sister had backtracked, stumbling for a moment before boasting about their capture of Roman Torchwick. His suspicions had only increased when, after pointing out that their success should not have had as extensive an impact as it did, Ruby did not make optimistic quips, but had instead turned pensive, with even hotheaded Yang's eyebrow furrowing in concern.

Now, he was more than happy that his nieces had apparently learned some of what they'd need to know to be huntresses, but the shift was more than a bit jarring. Unfortunately, their other two teammates had shown up and pulled Ruby out for some urgent conversation about some book before he could investigate further and Yang had clammed up on the matter, dragging his attention back to the video game. Which he proceeded to crush her in _again_.

"Ugh!" Yang growled, throwing down her controller. She pointed at him dramatically. "You're cheating! I don't know how you're doing it, but you're totally cheating."

Qrow smirked. "Don't get all uppity just because you're losing. The fact is I'm better than you at this, more experienced."

"More like old."

"Didn't I just say not to call me… ah, forget it." Qrow nabbed his flask and started unscrewing the cap. "So, word around here is that you and your team went AWOL the last few days. What was that all about?"

"Aw, you know," Yang shrugged cockily, holding up her tattooed hand. "Makeup, boys, combat training, regular girls' getaway before the Vytal Festival. Personally, I found the perfect pair for me."

Perfect pair… oh gods, she really was Tai's daughter. He did not want to hear about whatever harem shenanigans she got up to.

But… they could have been part of the magic cult she might have joined… Argh! The things he did for Oz.

"Sounds interesting," he replied, taking a deep swig from his flask. "Any details?"

"Oh, Uncle Qrow, a lady doesn't kiss and tell."

"We both know you ain't a lady."

"Any guys who loves his tenders doesn't," Yang chimed. "But I think maybe I can let you know a few details. That is, if you can give me something else first."

Qrow cocked an eyebrow. "Kid, are you trying to extort me?"

"Of course not, Uncle Qrow," Yang grinned like a cat. "We're just making a contract. It's just a perfectly reasonable practice, one a friend of mine gave me a bit of insight into recently. Just tell me what would be out of the question, and we can reach a compromise that works for both of us."

Strategy? Manipulation? This was very not Yang-like. Something big had changed and if Oz was right than this 'Fairy Tail' bunch were behind it. He needed to find out what happened to his nieces during their missing three days (and the other two, he guessed). Still, he couldn't let on that he was onto something. He had to keep it cool.

"Okay, fine," he conceded. "I'm not telling you anything me or your dad have lined for you or Ruby's birthdays. And you are not getting any of my booze or my id."

Yang rolled her eyes. "Please, like I need your cheap beer."

"It's whiskey and it's not cheap!"

"Fine," Yang relented, holding up her hands in surrender. She then reached forward for a handshake. "You tell me what I want to know, and then I'll talk about our little field trip."

"Deal," Qrow agreed, shaking his niece's hand. "So, what do you want to know—"

"My mom."

Oh.

Damnit, he should have been more specific.

Things with Tai were tense enough as they were, what with the general mess that their team turned out to be and Qrow's continued association with Ozpin, the same association that led to Summer taking her last mission and Tai suspected, and Qrow knew to be true though not why, drove Raven away. It was a strange mix of resentment towards their old headmaster and worry that Qrow would end up sharing their leader's fate. His old partner would never dream of turning him away, but Raven was a touchy subject for him, with good reason. After the scare when she and Ruby were toddlers, he didn't want to give Yang any more encouragement to go looking for her birth mother. He would not be happy if he gave her any info.

…

Eh, what the hell? He'd made a deal and Yang was practically an adult anyway at this point. Tai wasn't wrong to be protective, but he couldn't shelter his daughters forever. With the path they'd chosen, they'd find out exactly how dangerous the world could really be, sooner or later. Might as well give them an idea of what they'd be walking into.

"What do you want to know?"

Yang let out a sigh of relief and went to sit on one of the lower bunk beds. Her eyes were focused and her expression serious. "What was she like?"

"Raven is… complicated," Qrow explained. "My sister can be, and usually is, more than a bit of a bitch. She's got a view of the world that I don't particularly agree with—"

"No, not that," Yang interrupted, her lilac eyes filled with sadness. She looked down fearfully. "Before she left. Before she abandoned me and dad. I've heard enough to get a pretty good idea of what she's like now, but what was she like then? Why did she stick with dad at all if she was just going to leave? Did… did she not want me?"

Huh, that was… unexpected. Probably shouldn't have been, but Yang had always focused on Raven's present, where she was, how to find her, what she could expect, etc. She didn't much care for the past, Summer had been her mother then, and Yang still loved her as such.

"What brought this on?" he inquired.

Yang's fists clenched. "During our time away, I made a friend. He was also… left behind by one of his parents. But he kept looking for him, no matter what, no matter how dangerous things got because he knew him. He knew there must have been a good reason he left. But I don't even remember my mom, and… I don't know. Should I even be bothering? If she never wanted me, I guess it would answer why she left, you know?"

"Yeah, I know," Qrow responded, sighing. It would have been so much easier to cut ties with Raven completely if she'd just been a monster, if she'd just been some psychopath he'd unfortunately shared blood with. But she hadn't been. She'd been the sister that had fought tooth and nail to keep the tribe elders from kicking him out for his semblance. And when they'd gone to Beacon, he watched her change from a ruthless butcher to a determined huntress just as he himself did the same. He'd watched her and Tai fall in love, even as he'd tried and failed to get Summer to notice him.

And he'd never seen her more elated, or more terrified, than on the day Yang was born.

"She loved you, firecracker," he reluctantly confessed. "She and Summer spent hours playing with you when you were in diapers. The cooing was so annoying. The reason she left, it was something else, Raven's own mess."

Yang sighed in relief, a shining smile rising to face.

"Don't expect too much," he warned. "Raven might still have some measure of affection for you, but she's changed that to line up with the life she went back to."

"She saved me," Yang revealed. "On the train, during the fight with Torchwick, I was in a lot of trouble, but when I came to, my opponent was gone and I saw her. She looked exactly like she did in you and dad's old photos."

"Yeah, she mentioned that."

"What?" Yang squawked. "What do you mean 'she mentioned that'? You've talked to her?"

"She keeps in contact from time to time," Qrow said. "She told me to tell you not to expect that kindness again. Raven lives by the code that the strong live and the weak die. In her mind, if you can't stand on your own two feet, you're only going to die in the end anyway."

Yang's smile fell, and her eyes narrowed. Qrow knew it was only a matter of time until they flashed red and she exploded. He couldn't blame her, Raven was a jerk and the tribe's philosophy that she'd reembraced—

"That makes no sense."

Qrow cocked an eyebrow. "What do you mean, firecracker?"

"The strong live and the weak die. That's dumb," Yang declared, not angry but merely confused, disdainful even. "I mean, does that mean you throw a baby out to fight Grimm? Everyone's weak at some point or another. The job of people who are strong is to make a world where the weak have the chance to become strong."

Qrow blinked in shock, not expecting Yang of all people to put it that eloquently. Maybe this Fairy Tail was as positive as Oz had said.

He smirked. "Well said. A little optimistic maybe, but not wrong either. Wish Raven thought like that."

Yang shrugged. "I'll just have to knock some sense into her when I track her down."

"Knock some…" Qrow frowned. "Yang, your mom is fully trained huntress, one of the best there's ever been. Between me and her, it'd be a toss-up who'd win in a fight."

"I'm not going after her now," Yang immediately assured him. "I'm going finish my training here first, and then I'll face her on an even playing field. Well, not even exactly. I do have an ace up my sleeve."

"Your semblance isn't gonna be a game changer against her."

Yang smirked. "Who said anything about my semblance?"

Huh? If she wasn't talking about her semblance then what… no way.

Ozpin said that Fairy Tail was a guild of wizards. Did that mean they had taught her… then she and Ruby knew…

Yang raised her fist. A moment later, a mass of blazing pink flames ignited around her hand. "I did promise to tell you what happened during the last three days."

Qrow's eyes widened, locked on his niece skin, waiting for the fire to start turning it black. But it didn't. The _magic_ was completely under Yang's control.

When Ozpin had taught him and Raven their transformation magic, he'd been quite clear that he couldn't harness anything more powerful due to the thinness of something called ethernano in the atmosphere. The maidens had an ample supply built in to their power package, but the particle itself was scarce in the atmosphere. How the heck was Yang able to do something like this?

The door to the dorm flung open.

"Uncle Qrow, there's something I need to tell you—" Ruby froze when she saw Yang's blazing hand. Her silver eyes flickered between her sister and her uncle, before she frowned glumly. "Oh. I guess you already know."

"What?" Yang asked. "We were going to tell him anyway."

"Yeah, but we were supposed to do it together, Yang! You already showed him yours, now I don't get to wow him! I wanted to wow him!"

"Hey, I haven't shown him everything yet, you can still wow him. Just show him your Reaper's Rose Armor."

"I'm not finished building it!"

It was a surreal experience for Qrow. There he was, listening to his beloved, adorable nieces squabble like the teenagers they were over which one of their supernatural, potentially godlike powers would impress him more. Meanwhile, all he could think of was how he was going to explain to Tai that his daughters had run off and gained pseudo-maiden powers. Or how there was now no way Oz wasn't going to invite them into the inner circle once they'd graduated.

But most horrifyingly… Qrow didn't even want to consider it. Because if Salem knew what they could do, and Ozpin assured him she would recognize Fairy Tail's emblem, she would come for his nieces.

Very, very soon.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

 _Yang panted hard as she crashed flat on her back, orange sparks flickering out amongst the ash dirt around her. "God damn it, you pink-haired bastard, you are hard to put down."_

" _Ha! Thanks! You're not half bad yourself," Natsu called from a few yards away, not particularly exhausted but still winded. He wiped his hand over his mouth. "Man though, those flames of yours are hard to swallow." He frowned. "Also, the hair is salmon, not pink."_

" _It's not salmon, Natsu," Happy shouted, flying over the pair of pyromancers with Lucy at his side. "Salmon tastes amazing. Your hair tastes terrible."_

" _He means the color, not the fish," Lucy sighed. "Also, do I even want to know why you know what his hair tastes like?"_

" _It got in my mouth while we were sleeping once. I thought I was in a nightmare!"_

" _Huh. That's better than I expected."_

 _Lucy carefully picked her way through the dying sparks and gave Yang a hand up. Happy flew over and perched himself beside Natsu, who came and joined them, rubbing a hand across his stomach._

" _Man, this teaching thing really works up an appetite," Natsu noted gladly. "What do you guys say we break for a bit and grab something to eat?"_

" _Are you kidding?" Yang inquired. "We've been at this for hours and all we've been doing is beating the crap out of each other. Granted, there isn't really a problem with that, but I figured there'd be more than that to doing magic. Besides, you were eating my fire the entire time, how are you not full?"_

" _Eh, that pink stuff was weird, didn't replenish my magic power at all," Natsu remarked. "I thought you wanted me to teach you magic because it was all about hitting things?"_

" _I did. I just didn't think it'd be all there is to it."_

" _To most magic, there is. Most Dragon Slayer Magics as well," Lucy informed her. "Wendy has her enchantments, our friend Rogue can transform into a shadow, a Poison Dragon Slayer we fought a while back even had telepathy. But Natsu doesn't… specialize, in those aspects."_

 _The fire wizard shrugged. "I've never needed them. Igneel always said that if you couldn't burn something with fire, you just needed to burn it with a lot of fire."_

 _Yang smirked. "Can't argue with that logic."_

" _I'm not sure that counts as logic," Lucy moaned._

" _It is superior to other thought processes, princess. As expected of your prince."_

 _Yang and Lucy jumped and whirled around at the new voice, the huntress redeploying her weapon as she readied herself for a new enemy. In this new world, it could have been anything: a goblin, a troll, a four-thousand-year-old chaos god…_

 _Or a maid._

 _Sure, why not?_

" _Virgo?" Lucy greeted. "Hi. What are you doing here?"_

" _The prince called for lunch, princess," the maid, Virgo, stated as it were obvious. She waved her arms to the side, revealing a picnic table that had certainly not been there five seconds ago piled high with meats and pastries of every shape and size. "Capricorn asked me to deliver it with his compliments."_

" _Awesome!" Natsu cheered._

" _Fish!" Happy agreed._

 _Virgo nodded. "Dig in."_

 _The two promptly did just that stuffing their faces faster than Nora could inhale pancakes. Yang chuckled at their antics while Lucy cringed. The Celestial Spirit Wizard turned to the new arrival with a questioning look._

" _Natsu said that five seconds ago," Lucy said. "And time moves way slower in the Celestial Spirit World. How the heck did Capricorn make all this so quickly."_

" _He didn't," Virgo revealed. "He has been stocking up prepared meals for your entire team so they would not steal the food he made for your weight loss plan. Speaking of which," the maid held up a fancy covered plate. She removed the lid to unveil a whole head of lettuce, "This is the portion he suggests for you."_

 _Yang burst out laughing as Lucy facepalmed._

" _That's great, Lucy! I'll be able to actually fly you places."_

" _Shut up, you stupid cat," Lucy moaned. "Why does this keep happening?"_

 _Yang shrugged. "No clue. Except for that Droy guy, the lot of you guys could pass for models back on Remnant. Or just huntresses. Now that I think about, I'm not sure I've ever met an unattractive huntress."_

 _Lucy sighed but managed a grateful smile. "Thank you, Yang. At least someone acknowledges my beautiful good looks."_

" _You seem displeased, princess," Virgo noted, the plate in her hand suddenly replaced with a curled whip and a very excited grin. "Would you like to punish me?"_

 _Yang's eyes widened in shock, but she stopped when she saw Lucy sigh. Then, she broke out into a flirtatious smirk. "Punishment, eh? Never would have pegged you for the type, Lucy. You are just full of surprises."_

" _What?" Lucy's face turned beet red. "No! No, no, no, no, no! That is not me!"_

" _No need to be embarrassed," Yang teased. "We all have our kinks."_

 _Virgo raised an eyebrow. "Hmm, Leo informed me that the guild had new members, but he neglected to mention you had taken one of them as a lover, princess."_

 _Yang suddenly joined Lucy in having a scarlet face. "Egh?"_

" _Truthfully, I always thought the water girl would be your second choice for the harem, after the prince of course. She does spend an awful lot of time obsessing over you and Gray—"_

" _Virgo!" Lucy screeched at last. "One, I do not have a harem. Two, I am not dating Yang. Three, I am not dating Natsu! So, can you and everyone else please stop gossiping about my love life?"_

 _Virgo was silent for a moment. Then she leaned in towards Yang. "Don't worry. Princess shows affection through rage. She's merely embarrassed because Aquarius is always teasing her about supposedly not having a lover."_

" _Isn't today your day off?" Lucy growled, leering at the spirit._

" _Indeed. I was doing this as a favor to Capricorn. After spending so much time possessed by Zoldeo, he prefers to stay home when possible," Virgo bowed. "But not to worry, princess. He will not let his reservations stop him from fulfilling the terms of his contract with you."_

 _The anger faded from Lucy's face, replaced with deep sympathy. "I didn't know he was still recovering from that. Let me know if he needs anything. Contract or no, I'll try to let him rest."_

" _You are generous, princess," Virgo gratefully replied. "I'll be sure to let him know."_

 _The maid proceeded to disappear in a flash of light._

 _Yang whistled. She'd seen Loke go back and forth from the Celestial Spirit World several times as he came and went from Blake's lessons with Mira (he was always shivering for some reason), but she didn't think she'd ever get tired of seeing it happen. Of course, that assumed she'd ever wrap her head around other dimensional beings being summoned to the alternate dimension she was stuck in. Speaking of…_

" _What did she mean by contract?" Yang asked Lucy. "I thought you could just summon those guys whenever you wanted."_

" _Oh no," Lucy replied. "If I got to call them just because I have their keys, it'd be no better than slavery. A Celestial Spirit Mage has to make a contract with their spirits, work out when they're okay with being summoned, when they need breaks, if they want anything extra for certain days, stuff like that. Most spirits are pretty reasonable about it, they like being able to spend time in the human world after all, but it's always important to reach a compromise that works for everyone."_

" _It's really boring though," Natsu commented, laying against the ravaged table with a leg of meat in his mouth. "It took you forever to finish doing it with Plue."_

" _It took me literally three seconds."_

" _They were a boring three seconds."_

" _Wait, you fight by summoning these guys to help, right?" Yang inquired. "Why would you ever choose a magic that makes you have to rely on others to fight for you?"_

 _Yang loved her team, but she didn't need them to fight her battles. In the end, other people were just as capable of abandoning you as they were helping you. She had to be, and knew she was, strong enough to handle herself and then some. But if Lucy's spirits didn't or couldn't help her, she would be left vulnerable, and that wasn't good for anyone._

" _Well, first of all, I don't have them do my fighting for me, I fight with them," Lucy corrected. "I may not be on Natsu or Erza's level, but I can handle myself."_

" _Yeah!" Natsu agreed heartily. "She would have kicked that crazy hair chick's butt if Raven Tail hadn't cheated!"_

 _Yang raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"_

" _Grand Magic Games," Happy explained. "Master's son's guild cheated Lucy out of her match. But Laxus made sure they got what they deserved."_

" _Good," Yang grinned. She hated cheaters. If you weren't good enough to win on your own merit, why would you even try to fight?_

 _Lucy sighed, a soft, wistful smile coming to her lips. "As for the reason I picked Celestial Spirit Magic, it is something I have talent for, but it was also my mom's magic. After she died, she left me her keys and… well… it just felt like the thing to do."_

 _Natsu lightly squeezed her into his chest. She nodded gratefully to him._

 _Yang frowned in empathy. "I get that. I decided to be a huntress for the thrills, but also because my parents are. Dad didn't approve as much as I thought he would at first, but I think my mom would have approved. Both of them, maybe."_

" _What do you mean 'would' approve?" Happy inquired delicately, in contrast to his usual self. "Are they—"_

" _One of them," Yang replied. "The other… she left me a long time ago. I've never been able to find out why."_

 _Lucy's eyes immediately shine with pity, a familiar reaction from the few she'd told the story to. She didn't like to revel in the repeated loss of her mothers, and though she knew it was well-meaning, she found the attempted empathy of others to be tiring._

 _Which only made Natsu's narrowed eyes even more curious._

" _Did you go looking for her?" he inquired. "The one who left, I mean."_

 _Yang shrugged. "Of course. I haven't had much luck though. I can't go too far looking for clues yet, still a teenager and all, and I'm not going to let it consume my life anyway. The last time I did that… well, nothing good happened. I'm more than some search for someone who didn't want me."_

" _Yeah," Natsu muttered, unusually pensive. "That's good. Don't lose what you have to get back what you had."_

 _Both Lucy and Happy looked worriedly at the dragon slayer. Yang didn't understand why he was being so strange about the topic. He didn't seem like the sort to be overly introspective about stuff that he wasn't directly—oh, crud._

" _I'm sorry," Yang apologized. "Wendy told Ruby about you looking for your… dragon dad?"_

" _Just dad," Natsu corrected. "Only one I remember anyway."_

 _He retracted his grip from Lucy and trudged over to the riverbank, gazing emptily out over the rushing water._

" _Well, either way, I didn't mean to be insensitive," Yang continued. "I didn't even know my mom before she left. For you, it must have been… well, worse."_

 _Natsu chuckled bitterly. "I was eight when he disappeared. One morning he just… wasn't there. I searched all over but couldn't find a trace."_

" _Natsu…" Lucy murmured._

 _The pink-haired wizard twirled around and flashed them a wide grin. "But it's fine. Gramps found me and brought me to the guild. And looking for Igneel is how I met Lucy. I lost him that day, but I've gained a whole lot since."_

 _He clenched his fists tight, his black eyes narrowed in determination. "And when I do finally track down that scaly bastard, I'm gonna make him me tell exactly why he left."_

 _Yang looked down at the ground. "Do you really think he had a reason?"_

" _What?" Natsu cocked an eyebrow. "Of course he had a reason. People always do stuff for reasons."_

" _I mean a good reason." Yang clarified. "Maybe he just… didn't want you."_

" _Hey, don't be so mean Yang!" Happy chastised her._

 _Natsu held up a hand to silence him. He marched forward until he was right in front of Yang. "He had a good reason. Even if he's gone, I know him. I choose to believe in him. He wouldn't have left without one."_

 _He clapped a warm hand on Yang's shoulder. The huntress' face shot up to see Natsu was giving her another encouraging smile. "And your mom probably did too. People can be real jerks sometimes, but there's no harm in thinking they could be better. That's one of the core values of Fairy Tail. An enemy today could be a friend tomorrow. So cheer up and have a little hope. After all, why would anyone choose to abandon an awesome girl like you?"_

 _Yang didn't normally give into compliments, but there was just something so earnest about the dragon slayer's words that she couldn't help the light blush that came to her cheeks. "Thanks, teach."_

" _And if she really is just a jerk, you can always just beat her up!"_

" _Natsu!"_

" _What? That's what we normally do!"_

 _Yang couldn't help but burst out laughing. Fairy Tail was full of crazy, awesome whack-jobs that would probably make even Uncle Qrow's head spin, but damn if she didn't love them, Natsu and Lucy most of all. The other blond always had a friendly ear to lend and kind advice to offer, and her slightly uptight nature made her just as fun to tease as Blake. And despite the insanity and embarrassment she was often bathed in, there was an admirable elegance to her, not iron like Erza's indomitable will, but silk, flowing and weaving with the craziness that came with her friends. That she maintained her sanity and her caring heart was certainly an impressive feat._

 _And Natsu was just plain awesome in the best way possible. He was like Nora turned up to ten and made into a pyromaniac. Yang hadn't thought there was anyone alive who enjoyed the rush of a good fight as much as she did but Natsu could take her to her limit and then some. It was amazing. Plus, while he was most definitely an idiot, he had a simple wisdom to him that, when it showed itself, made the world seem just a bit brighter._

 _Huh, kind of like Ruby. Weird._

 _All in all though, if she had to be stuck in another dimension, being with Natsu, Lucy, and the rest of Fairy Tail wasn't so bad._

* * *

 **Ah, Yang and Ruby's friendships grow in the past as both they and Qrow slowly discover more and more danger in the present. For the record, the girls can sense Amber because the Vault is shielded to prevent such things, otherwise, Cinder or Salem could do just that.**

 **Now, the announcement. As many of you have undoubtedly noticed, this chapter is late and I am still behind on my other monthly story, The Third Faction. Despite my best efforts, I have proven unable to consistently recover the monthly schedule while maintaining 'RWBY Zero's" weekly one. As that story should be finished later this year, I have decided to implement a temporary fix for the monthly schedules, one that involves the input of you readers, and those of my other stories.**

 **I will post a poll on my profile. Both Third Faction and Fairies of the Shattered Moon will get their January chapters, and then it will be put up to the readers which one will get updated each month, starting with February. To ensure that neither story falls too far behind, if either one wins two months in a row, the other story will automatically get the next month.**

 **This very much temporary, as once RWBY Zero concludes, which I expect to happen sometime around September, Fairies of the Shattered Moon shall become the weekly story and Third Faction will become the sole monthly story once more, as my beta for that story Draconic and I work better with a longer timeframe for that story.**

 **I wish to offer you readers an enormous apology for inconveniencing you due to my overestimation of my own writing speed capabilities. I am immensely grateful for the support you all have provided me for all three of my stories and I hope you will continue to find my future narrative endeavors enjoyable.**

 **An extra huge thank you to my patrons: ArcherMcMuffin, Gregg Tracton, Keith Traction, StabKingPro and Benjamin Norris.**

 **Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!**

 **Go Forth and Conquer!**


	7. Chapter 6

**April Poll Chapter! Remember to vote in next month's poll if you want to see this updated sooner!**

 **If you wish to support me and my college tuition, please check out my P a treon for future chapter summaries, story ideas and more: p a Treon.(c om) (backslash) themaster4444**

* * *

" _And that is why Juvia needs to do something before this huntress harlot steals away my darling Gray!" Juvia proclaimed, her teeth gnashing in fury. Of course, a moment later she calmed down and blushed bashfully. "But I can't violate my darling's wishes to be left alone or seriously injure our new guildmate. Please help me, Gajeel!"_

 _The Iron Dragon Slayer held Juvia's pleading gaze for a moment. Then, pulled out a piece of paper from his belt and started scribbling on it. "Please help me Gajeel, you are so awesome… that would make a good lyric."_

" _Gajeel!" Juvia begged, bending over the table towards his side, Pantherlily and Levy sitting on opposite ends from him. "Please! I need your advice before I lose my beloved forever!"_

" _I don't see what the big problem is," Gajeel noted. "Just beat her up. Then, if Gray's not an idiot, he'll pick you."_

" _Gajeel!" Levy scolded, snatching a book from her small pile and smacking his shoulder with it. "She shouldn't beat up our guildmates. And Gray is not some prize to be won."_

" _Of course not. But by beating up the prissy white chick, she'll assert her dominance. Then Gray will pick Juvia for being the better provider."_

" _You're thinking of wild dogs," Pantherlily pointed out. "People do not choose their partners based off strength alone. You of all people should know that."_

" _What's that supposed to mean?"_

 _Juvia tuned out the bickering between the partners. She had decided against assassinating Weiss in her sleep, but to challenge her to open combat? There was nothing wrong with that. Fairy Tail members fought all the time, her beloved dueled Natsu almost daily. So, if she challenged Weiss and crushed her like the insignificant ant of a love rival she was, and was also as merciful as befitted a fellow family member… yes!_

 _Already she had hearts in her eyes as she imagined the results of her victory over the harlot—new family member._

' _Juvia, now that you've beaten that Weiss girl into the dirt so brutally, yet so compassionately laid her body down to rest, I see now that I was wrong. I was so blinded by the allure of this interdimensional siren, that I could not see the illustrious goddess that had been with me all along.'_

' _My darling, do you mean?"_

' _Yes, Juvia. Please, be mine.'_

" _Eeeeeee!"_

" _Juvia!"_

" _What?" the water wizard mumbled, realizing all three Shadow Gear members were staring at her. "Oh, I'm sorry. What did you say?"_

" _You were in one of your love daydreams," Levy told her, a concerned eyebrow raised. "Are you sure you're not going to do anything crazy?"_

" _Normal person crazy or Fairy Tail crazy?"_

 _Levy sighed. "I guess the latter really isn't avoidable."_

" _Eh, who cares anyway," Gajeel waved off. His eyes narrowed seriously right after that. "We have bigger problems."_

 _Pantherlily cocked an eyebrow. "Such as?"_

" _Salamander's apprentice already has a cat!"_

 _Even Juvia tilted her head at that declaration. "What are you talking about Gajeel?"_

" _The blond bimbo!"_

" _Lucy is not a bimbo!"_

" _Not Lucy, the other blonde! Salamander's training her and she's already worked her way up to cat level."_

 _Levy sighed. "Cat level?"_

" _Yeah. All real dragon slayers have cats."_

" _What about Laxus and that Cobra fellow?" Juvia asked._

" _Second generation hacks." Gajeel spat._

" _Right, ignoring the fact they've nearly killed both you and Natsu multiple times," Levy noted. "What are you even so worked up about? Natsu isn't teaching Yang Dragon Slayer Magic, and she doesn't have a cat—are you talking about Blake? You think Blake is a cat?"_

" _She has the ears."_

" _She's a faunus! They're a species on their world, that doesn't mean she's actually an animal."_

" _She's her partner, just like Lily is mine, Carla is Wendy's, and Happy is Salamander's," Gajeel explained. "She has adorable cat ears. Therefore, she is a cat! And I refuse to be outdone by that flame brain idiot like this! I need to get a student to cat level too!"_

" _That would require first having a student," Pantherlily reminded him._

" _You could take Weiss," Juvia suggested eagerly. "I'm sure she'd love to train with you instead of Gray."_

 _Gajeel stroked his chin as he hummed in thought. Finally, he turned to Levy. "Shrimp, you're becoming a Dragon Slayer."_

" _What? You don't know how to teach!"_

" _How hard could it be? Salamander's doing it."_

" _I'm not changing my magic!"_

 _Juvia sighed and shook her head as the two started flirting. Seriously, between them, Lucy and Natsu, and Elfman and Evergreen, it seemed like she was the only romantically inclined person in the guild who actually said what they meant. Well, unless she counted Cana and her alcohol, but that was a different matter altogether._

 _Still, with her old friend's wonderful advice, she now had a plan. She would challenge Weiss to a duel and prove herself to be the stronger and more fitting partner for her beloved Gray._

 _A part of her wondered what she, a wizard with over a decade of training and experience under her belt, would prove by battling someone who had only learned magic a few weeks ago, but that silly section of her mind was quickly beaten down by the rest of her as she glared across the guildhall at Weiss' booth where she sat with the strongest team, her friends, and most importantly, her darling Gray, who was already taking his shirt off._

 _Oh yes. She would prove she was worthy of him._

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

" _Does anyone else feel like someone's staring at them?" Weiss inquired, glancing about the table Team RWBY and their mentors, minus Mirajane who was about serving people (much to Blake's relief as she hid under the table), sat at._

 _Lucy smiled at her. "Does it feel like a demon has locked you in their sights and will devour you whole if you make one wrong move?"_

" _Actually… yes."_

" _Oh, don't worry then. It's probably just Juvia," Lucy assured her. "She does that to… well, any girl who talks to Gray for a few minutes."_

" _I asked her to stop doing that," Gray muttered, his shirt absent from his toned chest._

" _Wait, is she the one who's been stalking us up the mountain?" Weiss inquired._

" _It's not as big a deal as you think," Lucy told her. "She does it to me all the time, but she's a good friend when it counts."_

" _I'll take your word for it," Weiss sighed. She didn't exactly enjoy being stalked, but as the Schnee heiress, she was more than accustomed to having unwanted eyes on her. Though her teacher seemed to invite them, and she glared at his near naked form. "Can you at least keep your clothes on? We're eating for goodness' sake."_

 _Gray glanced down at his bare form, and blankly raised an eyebrow. "Huh. When did that happen?"_

" _Did you seriously not notice?"_

" _No. Do you?"_

" _What are you talking about—"_

" _Weiss," Ruby popped up from observing Natsu and Yang's eating contest. "Why are you taking off your dress? Are you hot?"_

" _What?!" The white-haired huntress' eyes went wide as she froze her hands in their tracks. Her jacket had already been discarded next to her and her fingers had been in the process of pulling down the zipper at the back of her dress when her partner had warned her._

" _Eep!" she squealed, righting her garment and plucking her jacket from the floor and placing it around herself. She glared at Gray. "What have you done to me?"_

" _Nothing," the ice mage placated, his hands held before him. "This sometimes happens, a side effect of the training. I mean, Lyon didn't get it, but from what I can gather your body subconsciously finds all temperatures—"_

" _You knew this could happen?" Weiss screeched. "Why didn't you warn me? A Schnee does not strip in public!"_

 _Lucy cocked an eyebrow. "A Schnee?"_

" _Relax, okay?" Gray insisted. "I don't see the big deal. I do it all the time."_

 _Carla shook her head and sighed. "And every time we tell you not to."_

 _Even Wendy nodded at that, with Gray finally having the decency to look away._

" _Enough about that," Ruby said. "What's this Fantasia Parade you guys were talking about?"_

" _It is a time-honored tradition of Fairy Tail," Erza declared proudly as she nibbled on her cake. "Every year during Magnolia's Harvest Festival, the entire guild comes together to dazzle the citizens with a parade through the city, showing off the greatest displays of showmanship we have to offer as thanks to the citizens for allowing us to live here."_

" _And to apologize for all the property damage we cause," Lucy noted._

" _You guys cause property damage?" Yang asked, in between breaths of her eating frenzy. "That's sweet. One time, I took down a whole club."_

" _Awesome!" Natsu complimented as he took another chomp out of a drumstick. "But I've done better. I blew up a giant magic cannon thingie on a walking robot island. And beat up Gajeel too."_

" _Woah! You guys just get better and better." Yang ducked her head under the table. "Hey Blake, did you blow up anything big back in your White Fang days?"_

 _The cat faunus popped out from her hiding place and frowned at her partner. "Please don't use my time as a terrorist to try and one-up someone."_

" _Eh, you were a freedom fighter."_

" _I thought I was a freedom fighter. I was a terrorist."_

" _Come on—"_

" _No."_

" _I have fish."_

"… _Still no."_

" _It's tuna."_

"… _Ugh! A Schnee Dust Company storage complex, a mile square"_

 _Yang smirked. "See? Was that so hard?"_

" _It better be grilled, you demon," Blake muttered as she scampered under the table just as Mira went by with a tray of drinks._

 _Wendy coughed to reclaim Ruby and Weiss' attention. "Anyways, I've never actually been in the parade before either. This month will be my first, just like you guys."_

" _What?" Ruby squealed, her cheeks the same color as her cloak. "No, no, no, no, we can't possibly join in the parade, we've only been here—"_

" _I wasn't here much longer when I was in the parade," Lucy reassured them. "And since the guild has been out of the city proper for the past few years, it's everyone's big comeback. You guys will fit right in."_

" _Well, yeah…" Ruby stuttered. "But… people… lots of people… watching me! Watching me not kill monsters! I'm just… not sure it'll be my thing."_

" _Don't worry," Gray said. "Erza gets stage fright too and she's fine on the floats."_

" _I do not get stage fright," the Titania mumbled as she shoved another bite of cake into her mouth._

 _Weiss rubbed her chin as she considered the idea. "I suppose it might be fun. It has been a while since I got to sing."_

" _You can sing?" Natsu asked, an entire chicken in his mouth. "That's great! Now we don't have to listen to Gajeel's crap!"_

 _A pillar of metal suddenly rammed into his head and put him through the floor._

" _I heard that, Salamander!"_

" _What about it?! It's true!"_

" _To your tin ear, maybe!"_

" _You're the one with a tin ear, metal head!"_

 _Weiss sighed at the pair's escalation. Then she yelped we they leapt towards each other and clashed over the table in an explosion of fire and iron, blasting everyone except Erza away._

" _Are you two crazy?!" she screeched. "This place is made of wood! You'll burn it down!"_

" _Actually, of all the ways the guildhall has been destroyed, being burned down actually hasn't been one of them," Lucy noted as she snagged Blake from where she'd hit her head and scurried behind a far-off bench, Wendy close behind. "But unless you want to get caught up in the chaos, I suggest hiding."_

" _Chaos?" Ruby inquired. "What chaos—"_

" _My cake!" Erza wept. Natsu and Gajeel froze mid-swing at each other, their eyes widening as they saw what the blowback of their initial clash had done to the contents of the table, specifically the Titania's dessert. The Dragon Slayers squealed as a pair of swords appeared in the knight's hands. "I'll take your heads as recompense!"_

 _Weiss wasn't sure exactly how it happened, but from there the entire guild hall erupted into one massive brawl, ice, lightning, playing cards, and multicolored flames surging through the air like the deadliest fireworks display of all time. She grabbed Ruby by the hood and darted over to join Lucy, Wendy, and Blake behind their bench. She'd have felt bad about leaving Yang in the middle of that mess if she hadn't spotted her teammate trading blows with Elfman, who despite transforming into some grotesque horned beast seemed to be rather even with the blond brawler's pink blaze._

" _Wow!" Ruby whispered in awe. "Does this happen often?"_

" _Pretty much weekly," Lucy informed them, shivering as a man wearing an ancient looking helmet (Bixlow, she believed?) went soaring over their heads, a quintet of totems following close behind._

 _Wendy winced. "We do our best not to get caught up in them."_

" _Why?" Ruby asked, gazing over the chaos like a kid in a candy store. "This is amazing! No words, no annoying socializing, just pure awesome fighting!"_

 _A bead of sweat dropped down Lucy's forehead. "I guess that's one way of looking at it."_

" _Face me, love rival!" some blue haired girl screamed, a pair of water whips sprouting from her arms. "I shall assert my dominance as Gray's one true love!"_

 _Lucy sighed. "And that's another. One of the many reasons I try not to get involved in these things."_

" _Your loss," Ruby shrugged. "Requip!"_

 _Crescent Rose flashed into her hands and had deployed into scythe form a moment later. Weiss' partner turned back to her and Blake expectantly._

" _Pass," Weiss said. "I'd rather not indulge such ruffians."_

" _Aw, come on, Weiss, it'll be just like the food fight."_

" _There is a difference between a bit of lunchtime fun and jumping into a Grimm breeding pit naked."_

 _Ruby cocked an eyebrow. "Naked? Is that why you're taking off your—"_

" _The answer is no," Weiss snapped, catching her hand as it began to slide her jacket over her shoulders._

 _Ruby sighed. "Blake?"_

" _No thanks," the cat faunus replied. "Not my scene."_

" _Man, you guys are no fun," Ruby pouted. "How about you, Wendy? Want to jump into the fray with me?"_

" _Ruby, duck!" Wendy shouted._

" _That's the spirit—wait, duck—oof!"_

 _A pair of playing cards smacked into the side of Weiss' inattentive partner and sent her flying._

" _Gotta keep your guard up, newbie!" Cana shouted from the midst of the fray._

 _Ruby scowled and hopped back to her feet, little worse for wear. "I'll show you whose guard is up! Ah!"_

 _She burst forward in a flurry of rose petals, leaving Weiss to facepalm. "Those dolts."_

" _Tell me about it," Lucy sighed, glancing back towards the battle as Natsu ran away from a somehow fire breathing Erza. "But you wouldn't trade them for anything, would you?"_

 _Weiss smirked and shook her head. "Not for all the worlds in existence."_

 _Lucy shared a smile with her as the sounds of battle echoed out from beyond the bench._

" _Weiss, forgive me if this is too personal," the blond mage began. "But some of your mannerisms, the way you speak, are you from the upper class of your world?"_

" _I am," the huntress confirmed. "My family owns the largest dust mining, refinery, and distribution company on Remnant."_

" _Run on the backs of oppressed faunus," Blake chimed in, a dark look shadowing her eyes, though Weiss knew better than to think it was intended for her personally._

" _Unfortunately, yes," Weiss continued. "Ever since my father took control, our company has been… less than benevolent. I hope to change that one day, gain respect as a huntress and take back our name, but my father is… controlling to say the least. Just getting him to let me come to Beacon was a trial."_

" _I know how that feels," Lucy grumbled. "After my mom died, my dad threw himself into his business. At best, he was cold to me, at worst, he wanted to use me as a pawn to advance his interests. When I ran away to join Fairy Tail, he hired our rival, Phantom Lord to kidnap me back. After we settled that mess, I went back home and made clear where we stood. If he tried to hurt my friends again to get to me, I would destroy him."_

 _Weiss chuckled wistfully. "I wish I could do that to my father. But, as long as he controls who inherits my family company, I need to at least stay on speaking terms with him. I refuse to let him define our legacy."_

" _Fair enough," Lucy nodded. "I did have the advantage of not wanting anything to do with the business. And the Heartfilia name crumbled seven years ago, along with the company."_

" _Your doing?" Blake inquired._

" _What? No! Even if I knew how to do that, I would never go after my own father like that. He left us alone, like I told him to, doing anything else would have just been petty revenge. Besides…" Lucy's mouth curved into a wistful smile. "After the company collapsed, he changed. He apologized for what he did before and restarted his life from the bottom up. We were trying to reconnect when… well… Tenrou Island happened."_

 _Weiss frowned in empathy. "He died during the seven years you missed, didn't he?"_

" _After he paid my rent all that time too," Lucy chuckled, a note of subdued pain in her voice. "It's… it's just something that happened. He loved me, and I never really got to tell him I forgave him for his mistakes."_

 _Weiss frowned. "Ever since I got here, I've been… off guard. Back on Remnant, there isn't a person alive who doesn't know my family name, well, except Ruby, and they've already formed their own ideas about who I am. Ideas that I, admittedly, did not do much to dissuade until recently."_

 _Blake looked away at that, catching the reference to their own early arguments. It was fine. Weiss didn't blame her for them, just as she knew Blake didn't blame her. Their conflicts were the sad consequence of two people on opposite sides of a war coming into contact, and they had settled them in the end. They were friends, whatever mistakes they made in the past didn't matter._

" _Back home, there's a standard that I have to meet, a certain level of decorum that I have to maintain lest some tabloid catch wind of it and spin it into a smear campaign against me or my family," she continued. "But here, no one knows who I am, and they don't expect anything from me."_

" _It's liberating, isn't it," Lucy smiled._

" _Yes. But it also makes me feel guilty."_

" _Huh?"_

 _Weiss squished her head into her knees, her mouth hidden by her folded arms in shame. She was immensely grateful to Fairy Tail for taking them in, for treating them like family and doing everything in their power to help them get strong enough to go home. Their openness, their warmth, it was a blessing and a comfort in an impossible time. But at the same time… it was almost overwhelming._

" _People here don't expect anything from me, and I'm afraid that that might eventually make me not expect anything from myself," she surmised. "Everyone here is so vibrant and… wacky, even more than the people from Beacon and trust me there were some characters among them. It gives me the freedom to be myself instead of the Schnee I trained to be. But, I don't hate all of who I trained to be. I'm proud of my discipline, my singing, my manners, and yet a few weeks with you all and I'm stripping in public without even noticing."_

" _To be fair, at least you acknowledge it's a problem," Carla noted. "Gray seems to have resigned himself to the situation."_

" _But he's teaching me magic," Weiss pointed out despondently. "You all have been so kind and more accommodating than anyone could reasonably expect you to be, and I feel like I'm looking down on you. Because I don't want to be a girl who randomly strips in public, or gets into a bar brawl for the fun of it. And I'm scared that the longer we stay, the more like that I'll become, that I'll lose everything I worked so hard to become, good and bad."_

" _And then you feel guilty because you think you're disrespecting us?" Lucy clarified. When Weiss nodded, the mage sighed before smiling at the white-haired girl. "You do realize that I'm hiding behind here too, right?"_

" _Well… yes," Weiss admitted. "But you and Wendy are more exceptions than the rule."_

" _That's true, but your first mistake was thinking there is a rule," Lucy explained. "It's true Fairy Tail is a melting pot that accepts everyone who wants to join, and it's true that the more eccentric of our personalities tend to attract more eccentrics."_

" _You hit like a real man!"_

" _That's 'sir' to you, beast boy!"_

 _Lucy chuckled. "Case in point. The more bombastic are the ones who are more easily seen, and are admittedly the majority, but they're hardly the only ones here. And no one is begrudged for being who they want to be, fancy or not fancy. Because we're all family, we would never want anyone to have to be anyone but who they want to be, no matter how different from the rest of us they might be."_

 _Weiss knew on an intellectual level that what Lucy was saying was true. After all, Ruby and Yang were sisters, and they were hardly copies of each other. And Team RWBY, despite giving her the freedom to indulge in some of her more juvenile desires, never pressured her to get rid of her decorum. Fairy Tail may have had their wackiness turned up to eleven, but they weren't trying to rid her of her training._

 _Maybe it was just her own messed up experience with 'family'. With her mother hiding away, and her father domineering the entire household, trying to manufacture her and her siblings into his perfect little heirs. That family certainly hadn't tolerated dissent._

 _And that was why, unlike Lucy, she didn't think she'd ever be able to forgive her father._

" _Thank you," she replied to her friend. "I'm sorry about making such a scene about something so meaningless."_

" _How you're feeling isn't meaningless, Weiss," Blake assured her, her teammate crawling around to place a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Coming here, it's been hard for all of us, but that doesn't mean in the same way. If we don't talk to each other, we won't be able to help each other."_

" _You're really not one to talk on that front," Weiss teased with a smile, receiving a grin in turn. "I just don't want to be that whiny little brat I was when we first met."_

" _You're not," Blake replied with a smirk. "That Weiss would have been affronted that she was being made to hide behind a mere bench."_

" _Oh, haha."_

" _Hey, you mentioned you liked to sing, right?" Lucy asked._

" _Yes," Weiss nodded. "What about it? Do you think you can get me a spot in the Fantasia Parade?"_

" _Better than that," Lucy grinned. "The guild usually has a karaoke night every few days or so. Mira controls the lineup, so I'm sure she'd be able to squeeze you in."_

" _Really?" Weiss beamed, the idea of being able to perform as she once had, but without her father controlling the occasion, singing because_ _ **she**_ _wanted to, perking up her spirits. "Are you sure it isn't too much trouble?"_

" _Please, we can go ask her now," Lucy cheered raising her head out from behind the bench._

" **Fire Dragon's Roar!** "

" **Ice Make Lance!** "

" **Iron Dragon's Roar!** "

" **Circle Sword!** "

" **Water Slicer!** "

 _Lucy's eyes went wide as the cornucopia of colors screamed towards each other. "Or, maybe later."_

 _She snatched up a silver key from her belt and panickedly waved it in front of her. "_ _ **Open: Gate of the Clock!**_ _"_

 _Weiss was very grateful that the arriving clock celestial spirit, who she later learned was named Horologium, was able to stuff them all inside his compartment and shield them from the blast of the attack collision. What she was not happy to learn was that somehow, while she was being teleported within a sentient, magical clock, she had lost her clothes. Again._

 _On second thought, she could really use that bar fight right now. She had issues to work out._

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

Now that she actually had time to settle down and talk with her, Winter was noticing quite a few changes in Weiss that she hadn't had the time to register during their meeting at the landing pad.

They were mostly little things, details so minute that most outside the upper class wouldn't notice them or care if they did. Winter herself certainly didn't. But after they had both spent hours upon hours being taught the correct manner of sitting or posture for high society, had it drilled into their heads that even the slightest misstep would bring dishonor to the Schnee name, as if it hadn't already been soiled enough, it was hard not to notice her little sister's legs not being perfectly clasped, or her 'disrespectfully' leaning her elbow on the table as she described an especially lengthy anecdote about one of her new friends.

But there were also other changes, ones that Winter was thrilled to see. Where once Weiss had been stiff in her shoulders, withdrawn and closed off like the perfect porcelain doll Jacques wanted her to be, now she moved and emoted freely, like a snowflake dancing in the wind, the weight of the world no longer bearing down on her back.

Winter had hoped to see such improvement when she'd learned her little sister had chosen to study at Beacon instead of Atlas. Though the school had provided her with a path to escape their father, her alma mater's militarized methods hadn't done wonders for Winter's social experiences. General Ironwood had helped patch those deficiencies once he'd taken her under his wing, but it had been a long time before she'd made any sort of friends, even among her team. Weiss, whether as a consequence of leaving their homeland or not, had accumulated a vast circle of friends who cared about her as a person, who'd helped salve the scars left by their upbringing and helped her blossom into an exquisite young huntress. She could not be prouder of her little sister. Even if she kept tugging at her clothes for some reason, wincing as soon as she pulled her jacket. What was that about?

She caught sight of the white tattoo of Fairy Tail on the back of her hand and was reminded that not all of Weiss' new social circle necessarily had her best interests in mind.

"Is everything alright with your clothes?" she asked her sister, the both of them sipping tea in one of Beacon's lush gardens. "You keep fiddling with them."

Weiss flinched, clutching her hands on the side of the table. "Nothing's wrong. I just… had to have them hemmed is all. I grew unexpectedly and the stitching is still raw."

Winter raised an eyebrow. "Stitching? Then why is there duct tape under your sleeve."

"That's… the best solution I could come up with," Weiss sighed. "Believe me, it's better than the alternative."

"Oh?" Winter pried. Could this be a clue about Fairy Tail? "And what is the alternative?"

Her sister flushed at the query. "So, how long are you staying?"

The specialist frowned. It was unlike Weiss to so blatantly change the subject. Whatever she was hiding must have been worse than she'd thought if she was being so clumsy in diverting attention from it.

Still, Winter doubted she'd get answers by acting like a battering ram. Weiss may not have been as deft as Qrow at leading a conversation, but she'd still run her around the ringer if she let her emotions take control of her.

"Just for the tournament," she replied. "Originally it wasn't even supposed to be that long, but the general feels the festival warrants additional security."

"More? There's a squadron of battleships in the sky." Weiss pointed out. "Not that I'm not glad you'll be here longer, but with Roman Torchwick locked up and the White Fang still licking their wounds from the Breach, how much more security is needed?"

Winter decided against telling her sister that the general had felt the need to not only keep her in Vale, but also send for an additional unit of specialists. She trusted Weiss with her life, but she wouldn't share classified troop movements with her. COMMAND ESR had done his job right for once finding this new route, there was no need to put more people in the know.

"General Ironwood believes in being thorough," she said. "With all of Remnant watching, we can't afford to let anything go wrong." She leaned forward and tenderly clasped Weiss' hands in her own. "That doesn't mean there is anything you need to worry about. If there is danger, we'll deal with it, but you should keep your attention on the festival. You've done well for yourself coming to Beacon, and this tournament is a chance to enjoy yourself to the fullest."

Weiss smirked. "And to prove myself to the rest of the world. Maybe father will finally stop pestering me then."

"He's been making demands?" Winter surmised, recalling her own experience with Jacques'… persistence.

"He's been calling me every day since I got back— since the festival started," Weiss confirmed. "He even canceled my card when I tried to buy my team lunch."

"How embarrassing," Winter teased.

"You have no idea. All that time I lectured Ruby about mishandling our jewels and she wouldn't get that smirk off her… you're being sarcastic."

"Not at all," Winter grinned. For all her sister was skilled with the tools of classical wit, she could sometimes be quite ineffectual at recognizing them. "Though, I wasn't aware you and your leader had taken to sharing jewels. Or that Ms. Rose was in any position to acquire them."

"Eh, did I say jewels? I meant fake jewels," Weiss hurriedly explained. "We played poker with them, but she was careless and bet them all… on a stupid illusionist who got what he deserved."

Okay, subtlety wasn't working. _Something_ had happened to her sister recently, and it had something to do with her new tattoo and the organization it represented.

"Weiss, the headmaster said you and your team went missing for a few days before the festival," Winter said. "The next time anyone saw you, your team had these markings on your hands."

Weiss winced. "You know about that?"

"Indeed. Weiss, why would you join this Fairy Tail?"

All at once, her sister stilled. "How do you know that name?"

"I searched for the symbol in the Specialists' database," Winter lied. "There wasn't any other information about them though."

Weiss frowned, wrinkling her brow in thought. "That makes sense. But then why would Ruby and Yang's uncle know…"

So Qrow had already started asking. Good to know.

"Branwen, despite his many flaws, is a fully capable huntsman," Winter declared, covering that her inquiries were in fact connected with Ozpin's right hand. "It is not too surprising that he has happened upon mention of this organization before."

"More than you'd think," Weiss grumbled. She shook her head and looked her sister straight in the eye, bold and confident, as a true lady should be. "Regardless, you have nothing to be concerned about Winter. My team joined Fairy Tail as a matter of necessity, but they proved themselves to be more than hospitable."

"Be that as it may, I'm worried for you," Winter explained. "Weiss, there is absolutely nothing about this group in any CCT database. I don't need to tell you how impossible that is. Or how eager any organization would be to count a Schnee among its number."

Surprisingly, Weiss chuckled at her warning, a warm thing, as if she'd just made a particularly funny jest and she was trying to be polite about it. "Don't worry, Winter. Fairy Tail is many, many, _many_ things, but they were hardly after me for my name. I'd count the friends I made there among the kindest people I've ever met."

"Appearances can be deceiving, little sister."

"And you are far too cynical, big sister," Weiss teased back. When Winter's icy façade didn't crack, she just sighed. "Please, Winter. I promise you, the guild only has my best interests at heart."

Winter always found it hard to deny her baby sister anything, she'd practically raised her before she'd left for the academy. But still… "You only knew them for three days. How could you possibly be so confident in their intentions?"

"That's… a very complicated story. One I'm not sure you'd believe if I told you," Weiss admitted with a frown.

It didn't last long, however, and her face lit up with excitement a moment later, She snatched Myrtenaster from her belt and handed it over the table. Winter raised an eyebrow but took the offered weapon. "What are you doing?"

"Showing you what Fairy Tail taught me. Or at least some of it. I have some techniques involving my sword but I don't want you thinking it's just fancy dust work." Weiss hopped to her feet and preened. "I have gotten quite good at it."

"Oh, really?" Winter grinned playfully. "So you've improved your glyphs than?"

"Immensely," Weiss stated proudly. "I've even started time dilation."

"And your summoning?"

The proud heiress cringed. "That… fell by the wayside, a bit. But I'm sure I'll get it eventually, I just have to keep working at it."

That was interesting. The last time Winter had spoken to her sister about learning to summon, Weiss had despaired and complained about the one aspect of their shared semblance that did not come easily to her. The fact that she had gained the confidence in herself to be assured of her own potential was an excellent improvement.

Had Fairy Tail caused this? What was this group that could change her sister so much in so little time?

"However, I think you'll find that the skill I focused on in its place was very much worth the effort," Weiss assured her, placing a fist in the center of her opposite palm. "And the fight with the crazy water wizard it took for me to unlock it."

"Crazy—what?" Winter stuttered, rising to her feet, unsure if she heard correctly. "Weiss, what are you—"

" **Ice** —"

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

" _Weiss Schnee!"_

 _Oh, for gods' sake, why?_

 _Gray knew why of course. Juvia, for whatever reason he couldn't fathom, was incredibly attracted to the messed up whackjob that was him. But while he treasured her as a guildmate and a friend, he did not return those feelings and dealing with her continuous decrees of devotion, and declarations of war on any unmarried girl who spent a significant amount of time with him, had gotten tiresome long ago._

 _He'd made a point of letting her know exactly what he thought of her actions at the Grand Magic Games banquet and she'd tried to back off afterwards, which he very much appreciated. But with all the time he'd been spending training Weiss, she must have finally burned through whatever reserve of self-control she'd been utilizing._

 _He and Weiss, both in only their underwear, whirled around to face Juvia, her deep blue coat easily visible in the pure white snowdrifts of Mt. Hakobe._

" _Um, hello?" Weiss replied awkwardly. "Nice to meet you?"_

" _It's nice to meet you too!" Juvia called pleasantly, her serious expression vanishing as she waved at the huntress. "It's so wonderful to have you in the guild!"_

" _Oh, thank you," Weiss answered, a smile spreading across her face. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."_

" _ **We will fight for Gray**_ _!"_

 _Weiss' grin warped into an expression of utter confoundment. "What?"_

" _Juvia," Gray sighed. "I don't know what's going through your head, but I'm just teaching her. We don't have any more of a relationship than you and I do."_

" _What?" Weiss repeated, her gaze now on Gray._

" _I understand that, my darling," Juvia professed with hearts in her eyes. "But I must prove that I am a superior marriage prospect than this interdimensional hussy!"_

" _WHAT!?" Weiss roared, glaring daggers at the water wizard. "How dare you? How dare you… you… slander me like this?! To make it clear to your clearly delusional brain, he is my teacher, not… that other thing."_

" _You're allowing him to see you naked!"_

" _It makes just as little sense to me!"_

" _Enough!" Gray shouted. "Juvia, I told you before, I'm not going to put up with any more of this ridiculousness. And I'm certainly not going to let you attack our guildmate—"_

" _No," Weiss cut in. Her fury was still sharp, but there was a shrewd calculation to it now, her livid eyes analyzing Juvia like she was trying to figure out the best place to stab her with an icicle. "No. You want a fight?"_

" _Yes!" Juvia roared. She suddenly shifted far more meekly. "Was that not clear?"_

" _No, it was clear," Weiss replied. She marched over to her discarded clothes and whipped up her rapier from the pile. "And I accept."_

" _Hooray! I shall defeat you in the name of my beloved Gray!"_

 _Gray himself cocked an eyebrow. "You don't have to do this."_

" _No, but I want to," Weiss declared. "I've been training for weeks on this stupid mountain. I want to see how far I've come."_

 _The ice mage frowned. "You're not ready for Juvia. She's not Natsu, but she's a lot stronger than you're thinking she is."_

" _My beloved Gray thinks I'm strong! Take that, homewrecker!"_

 _Weiss' eyebrow twitched. "If she's as good as you say, then I'll appreciate the challenge."_

 _Gray opened his mouth to argue but just sighed. "Fine, fine, give it your best shot. Just don't get cocky, okay? You've been picking this up faster than anyone I've ever seen, but that doesn't mean you're a master."_

" _Not yet," Weiss declared. She stomped forward through the snow to stand before Juvia, blade drawn and ready for battle. "Alright, give me your best shot."_

" _As you wish! As your caring guildmate, I shall accommodate your request!"_

" _Just fight already!"_

 _Juvia recoiled from the shout and nodded. Her bubbly and furious demeanor evaporated immediately, replaced by the same cold expression she'd worn when Gray had first met her during the Phantom Lord War. She threw out her hand._

" **Water Lock!** _"_

 _Weiss' eyes widened as she was suddenly encased in a floating orb of water. Her limbs floundered as she suddenly found herself without oxygen. She quickly attempted to swim out of the prison, but the liquid inside shifted fast enough that she couldn't make any real progress._

" _My Water Lock is nearly invincible," Juvia declared. "The number of wizards who have escaped it, of course including my darling Gray, can be counted on one hand. In a few minutes, you will run out of air and lose consciences, losing this battle without suffering any excessive harm."_

 _Gray could admit, it was a good strategy. Simple, but effective. There weren't many wizards who had a counter for such an entrapment, and if it worked, the fight was over immediately. He'd only been able to circumvent it because his magic was a natural counter. He'd been teaching Weiss that same magic, but he wasn't sure if she was far enough along to do what he'd done._

 _The huntress however, turned out to not need to freeze the sphere as he had. Instead, she whipped her sword through the water, a line of white glyphs materializing from her place suspended in the liquid to the ground outside. She placed a foot atop one of the sigils and was suddenly rocketed out of the water and into the snow._

" _Oh?" Juvia stoically noted. "So this is the 'semblance' I've heard so much about. Mira mentioned that your blond friend used hers to deal Natsu quite the blow. I wonder if yours will prove to be as impressive."_

 _Weiss spat some snow out of her mouth and rose to her feet, her rapier noticeably left on the ground. She panted for breath as she glared at Juvia, the snowstorm raging over the cliff to their side. "Trust me, you have no idea what I'm capable of."_

 _Gray smirked. He couldn't say he approved of the reason for the duel, but he'd be lying if he said he wasn't looking forward to watching. Weiss was right. She and the others could train every waking second, but the best way to learn how to use their magic to fight would always be to fight. They'd have to do some jobs eventually, Erza couldn't pay for their rooms in Fairy Hills forever, but other Fairy Tail wizards would be stronger than most of the opposition they'd face out in the world. He didn't think Weiss would be able to beat Juvia just yet, but this would be a good measuring stick to see how much farther she had to go, maybe even provoke her to unleash the true power he was sure laid within her._

 _And who knew? Maybe his student had some secret trick up her sleeve. She might have been completely in control of this madness._

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

 _Weiss was very much realizing that she'd lost control of this madness._

 _She'd underestimated her opponent. Even with Gray's warnings, she'd thought she was just some delusional stalker, all bark and no bite. She was a member of the guild, so she would have some power, but nothing Weiss couldn't handle. Of course, she really should have known better, she'd spent enough time with Nora to know that craziness almost always meant someone was insanely strong, at least in their line of work._

 _But after the fight with Natsu and training with Gray, she'd come to think of magic as a purely physical force. It amplified punches, fired blasts, summoned armor or demons to boost martial abilities. She hadn't been thinking about an entrapment technique like that Water Lock. But that same blindness might work in her favor._

 _Juvia had seen her semblance. She thought of her as an otherworldly invader. So she'd catch her off-guard, smash her with every magic attack Gray had taught her, let her see exactly how much of a wizard she was._

 _With Myrtenaster on the ground, she had both hands free for spellcasting. She slammed a fist into her open palm, just as she'd practiced for weeks._

" **Ice-Make Lance!** _"_

 _She released the required ethernano, a pale blue magic circle materializing in front of her hands. Four spires of clear ice shot out, cutting through the cold winds and curving straight for the water wizard._

 _Juvia calmly spun to the side, the lances smashing into the snow where she'd stood a moment before. She threw up her arms twice as she twirled._

" **Water Slicer.** "

 _Four thin blades of water rushed towards Weiss, the snow below them, and even the rock beneath that, sliced in two by their edge._

 _The huntress' eyes widened. She dove to the side to dodge, but when she looked up, there were already half a dozen more blades already soaring towards her, her opponent's arms busily charging more._

 _Weiss did her best to avoid the barrage, but the rate of fire was simply too much, She grit her teeth as she was forced to take two of the water blades on her aura, more already incoming. The spread was too wide to escape right, and there was a cliff to the left so that was out._

 _But maybe… yes, that could work. It was one of the more advanced techniques Gray had shown her so far, but if she could do it… she could do it._

 _After all, she was a Fairy Tail wizard, wasn't she?_

" **Ice-Make Geyser!** "

 _She was too far away to launch the attack at her opponent, but she was perfectly capable of using it on herself. A titanic mass of ice erupted from her hands and propelled her into the air. It was cut to pieces by the water blades a moment later, but it was enough to get her out of range. Weiss grinned, summoning glyphs to give her more horizontal distance out of her fall. She had the high ground, and she'd use it to finally crush this crazy girl._

 _She leapt off the final glyph and raised her hands above her head as she dove through the air._

" **Ice-Make Hammer—** _"_

" **Water Cane**. _"_

 _A massive whip of water streaked through the sky and came down on Weiss just as her hammer formed above her head. The huntress' spell crumbled, and she was slammed back down into the snow._

" _Is this all?" Juvia inquired stoically. "My darling Gray is more than an adequate teacher, you've learned the forms well enough. But that's all you've learned. You know nothing of the spirit of Maker Magic. All you can do is copy his movements, only weaker, slower. Gray deserves an equal, not a doll."_

" _In what world is a psychotic stalker an 'equal'?" Weiss snarled._

 _Who did this girl think she was? Spirit of maker magic? She'd practiced the forms to perfection because that was what a student did. It was how she'd learned singing, dancing, and combat. She was no one's doll!_

 _She wanted to see something more than the basics, fine._

… _Except she didn't know anything but the basics. Gray had only demonstrated his Lance, Hammer, Axe, Geyser, and a few other techniques. She didn't have an especially large arsenal._

 _Think. What would Ruby do? Probably come up with some ridiculous scheme combining all their—combining! That was it!_

 _She'd been trying to avoid using her semblance to catch her opponent off-guard, but if that wasn't working, then she needed to try something new._

 _She summoned a line of glyphs and dashed over to her sword, plucking Myrtenaster from the snow. She held her offhand's palm out before her and slammed the pommel of her blade into it. It wasn't precisely the required ready stance, but it would have to do. She needed focus to use both her powers at once and her sword helped her concentrate._

 _Juvia flicked her hand, sending more Water Slicers downrange._

 _A glyph with a clock face appeared beneath Weiss' feet. The approaching water blades seemed to slow, or rather, the huntress' sight had accelerated._

" **Ice-Make Lance!** _"_

 _Just as before, a magic circle spawned in front of her hands. However, unlike before, Weiss instantly cast the spell again, her time dilation of herself allowing her to fire off more spells in the same timeframe. It was exhausting to use both her magic and her semblance to such a degree simultaneously, but like hell was she going to let herself be overcome so easily._

 _Before long, she'd spawned half a dozen magic circles, each one unleashing a horde of frozen spears downrange, obliterating the Water Slicers and surrounding their caster._

" _Let's see you dodge this!" Weiss roared. "_ **Ice-Make Phalanx!** _"_

 _The surge of lances crashed into Juvia, a cloud of snow and ice erupting from the point of impact._

 _Weiss dropped her stance, the glyph fading from beneath her as she regained her breath._

" _Not bad," Gray smirked proudly. "But don't let your guard down."_

 _Weiss cocked an eyebrow. "What are you talking about? There's no way she could— could—"_

 _The huntress' eyes widened. Walking out of the cloud of ice and snow, was Juvia. But far from being unscathed from the assault as Natsu might have been, the wizard was missing large chunks of her chest, stomach, even the side of her face, floating globs of water instead taking their place._

" _That's… that's…"_

 _She couldn't say impossible. She was in another dimension, after all. She didn't know what was possible and what wasn't. But that was… that was…_

" _What are you?"_

 _Water pooled from Juvia's wounds and suddenly she looked good as new, even her clothes somehow. "I am Juvia the Rain Woman. My body is entirely made of water."_

" _How?!"_

" _Magic. Magic I've had since the day I was born. Magic that once trapped me in gloom, and despair, and loneliness for all my days. Until my darling freed me from my curse and showed me the light of Fairy Tail. And that is why, my beloved guildmate, I WILL NOT LET YOU TAKE HIM!"_

 _Juvia's stoic façade shattered into a feral snarl of fury. Like a flood erupting from a dam, she surged forward on a, no, as a torrent of water, her arms pulled back as they gathered titanic mass. Weiss barely had time to throw up a glyph as a ramshackle defense before the wizard smashed through it and threw her arms forward._

" **Water Nebula!** _"_

 _Two enormous waves of water slammed into Weiss, shattering her aura and launching her into the air._

 _She was powerless. Just like always._

 _Her life never seemed to be within her control. Even back on Remnant, she always seemed to be trounced by foes like that chainsaw wielding White Fang brute that she was sure Ruby or Yang could have beaten. No matter how much she tried, she failed tests that she knew Winter had passed with flying colors at her age._

 _And now? Now she had been thrown into a world of monsters and magic and things she had never trained for, with her only chance in hell of returning home being to defeat an entire guild of the most powerful dark wizards there were. Helpless_ again _. She was surrounded by crazy people with strength and talent beyond anything she'd ever imagined, and she couldn't hold a candle to them. No matter how hard she trained, how could she hope to defeat someone who could just turn to water whenever she attacked?_

 _Why didn't anything she did matter?!_

 _She tumbled to the ground, flat in a snowdrift only a few feet from the cliff._

 _Juvia reformed her body proper, her anger breaking into concern. "Are you alright? I remember Mira saying you fight with your aura, but are you vulnerable when it breaks or after it breaks?"_

" _After it breaks, Juvia," Gray called out. "Now that's enough. This fight's over."_

" _Of course, my darling! Did you see how I was able to defeat her—"_

" _No!"_

 _Both Juvia and Gray turned as Weiss staggered to her feet, her head low, her mind barely thinking. But she could not be powerless. She'd worked too hard to be powerless!_

" _No?" Juvia growled, her brow scrunching in annoyance. "But if I go any further, I might seriously hurt you, and I don't want to do that! Just yield and admit that I'm a better prospective prospect my darling and we can stop this—"_

" _No," Weiss repeated mindlessly, her grip faltering as Myrtenaster slipped from her fingertips. "No, no, no, no, no."_

 _Juvia's fist tightened, a glob of water boiling in her hand. Steam rose from the orb as falling snow sizzled against it._

" _Juvia…" Gray warned._

" _She will not yield, my darling," Juvia replied. "I'm sorry, but I cannot disrespect her by letting her will go unchallenged—"_

" _Let?" Weiss snarled, finally managing to pick up her head. "No one 'lets' me do anything. I decide who I am! No one else! Give me your best shot, you third-rate harpy!"_

" _Third-rate?" Juvia repeated, affronted. She raised her arm. "_ **Scald!** _"_

 _The stream of boiling water blasted out towards the huntress._

 _Weiss recognized that her taunt was foolish. She'd lost this fight. Juvia was more experienced and her water body was a natural counter to anything Weiss knew how to do. But she just couldn't take it lying down. She was tired of having her life controlled._

 _Her father did it, with her barely escaping under his thumb to Beacon. Even there, he'd been repeatedly trying to call her and reclaim his influence, drag her back to Atlas. And now, she was stuck in another world by some book she knew nothing about, possibly barred from ever achieving her dream of purifying her family's legacy._

 _She was done. She wouldn't be controlled anymore. She would be the master of her life. Not her father, not fate, not the gods themselves if they were real._

 _And if they were, and they tried to mess with her, she'd just cut them down._

 _She didn't completely understand what happened. Ethernano surged from her origin, but flowed in ways she'd never felt before, in paths she'd never conceived by somehow felt so natural. Her beaten body was filled with energy, and with a furious bellow, she threw her head to the sky._

 _All around her, a cascade of pitch-black ice erupted from her body, battering aside Juvia's boiling stream and throwing both her and Gray off their feet. Even the mountain's blizzard was stalled for a moment, the falling snow shoved away by the glacier, even as the ice behind Weiss plummeted off the cliff._

 _The huntress' body sagged, her energy spent. She'd never released so much magic at once before. She didn't even use a spell, she'd just been so wrapped up in her rage and it had just… come out. It was rage and wrath and_ _ **power**_ _on a scale Weiss had never felt before._

 _It was amazing._

 _Unfortunately, it probably wasn't the best idea to use when her body was already exhausted and beaten. Her knees turned to jelly, her legs faltering as she fell back._

 _Right off the cliff._

 _Her vision flickered, freezing air, strangely still not feeling cold, shearing across her bare skin._

 _A figure in blue dived after her, a long tentacle of water snagging her out of the air. Once more, she was encased in a Water Lock, only this time, she was heaved upwards, carried back over the cliffside before the bubble popped and she was laid out in the snow, the rush of the liquid snapping her back to something resembling consciousness. The squealing embracing her did the rest._

" _Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, oh my goodness!" Juvia fretted, pulling Weiss up to a sitting position and desperately looking her over, even slamming her ear into her chest to check her heartbeat. "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry! I never meant for that to happen, I promise I didn't want to really hurt you, well not like that, I did want to ruff you up to prove myself to my darling Gray, but I didn't want to kill you, I swear!"_

" _Uh, that's, uh, alright?" Weiss managed out, not really sure how to respond to the woman's frantic blubbering. "Honestly, I've been attacked for worse reasons, my family isn't exactly… nevermind."_

" _But are you okay?!" Juvia questioned, terrified, clutching Weiss even closer. "Do you need Wendy? Or Ms. Porlyusica? Do you need a blood transfusion? I know how to do that! Water-Make—"_

" _No!" Weiss finally shouted, shoving the wizard off her. "No! I am fine! I don't need your… whatever this is."_

 _Juvia pouted and looked down ashamed. "Oh. I'm sorry."_

 _Weiss sighed. "It's fine. Thank you for saving me."_

" _Don't mention it. I would never let a guildmate fall off a cliff. Well, unless my darling asked me to, but he is so wise that he would only do so if it was in their best interests."_

"… _Right," Weiss remarked. "Why are you so obsessed with him anyway?"_

 _Juvia raised an eyebrow. "I mentioned it during the fight. Did you not hear?"_

" _No, I just… nothing," Weiss sighed. She didn't think people talked as much during fights back on Remnant. Or maybe it just happened at a level she hadn't reached yet. "He brought you into Fairy Tail, right?"_

" _He did," Juvia reminisced softly, gentle admiration ghosting across her face instead f her usual rampant adulation. "Before I knew him, I couldn't control my magic very well. Everywhere I went rain would follow and because of that… well… no one wants to be around a person like that. It was a lonely existence. And because of my darling, because of Fairy Tail, I don't have to suffer that anymore."_

" _That's why you're obsessed with me?"_

" _Darling!" Juvia exclaimed, jumping up embarrassed. "You heard that?"_

 _Gray nodded, his expression far more touched than Weiss had ever seen before. "I never knew that was… why you feel like you do."_

" _Well, it was also love at first sight, but your princely chivalry only made me more devoted!"_

" _And there it is," the ice wizard sighed. "Look, Juvia, I've told you before, I'm not okay with this whole 'being stalked' thing. And honestly, I'm not looking for a relationship right now. You're my friend, but this has to stop. No more fighting every girl who talks to me for more than five minutes. Okay?"_

" _Yes, my darling, of course," Juvia consented. "But what about ten minutes?"_

" _Moving on," Gray turned to Weiss and smiled proudly. "You did good."_

" _What are you talking about?" Weiss sulked. "I was slaughtered."_

" _True," Gray conceded. "But it's better to take a loss here than out there. Here you can learn from it. So what did you learn?"_

" _That Natsu isn't the only wizard with stupidly unstoppable powers."_

 _Gray chuckled but shook his head. "Juvia is strong, but I've been able to beat her before and I don't have Natsu's level of bullshit magic power. Your head's one of the best weapons you'll have in a fight. The more creative you are with the tools at your disposal, the more ways you'll have to outmaneuver your enemy."_

" _My darling is so wise—" a pointed glare stopped Juvia in her tracks. The blue-haired girl took a breath and looked back to Weiss. "Gray is right. The reason I dodged your first attack even though it wouldn't have done anything is because I've learned from experience that it's better to have my water body as a surprise than rely on it. You wasted valuable time later on an attack I knew wouldn't hurt me. Though, that moment was by far your most impressive. It was where you truly started to understand the spirit of Maker Magic."_

 _Weiss raised an eyebrow. "When I was using my semblance?"_

" _When you were fighting like you."_

 _Gray nodded. "Like I told you before, Maker Magic doesn't have the power of other styles, it relies on creativity._ _ **Your**_ _creativity. Just copying my attacks like you were doing there won't be enough. You can work them into your own style, but it has to be your style. Your semblance, if you want, can be a part of that."_

 _Weiss scrunched her brow in thought. For years, all her training was to master form, fencing techniques tried and tested over centuries. She repeated drills, again and again, until her muscles could do them with only the slightest incentive from the brain. She'd thought learning magic would be the same._

 _But if it wasn't, if she had to invent her own style..._

 _She chuckled. She'd confided to Lucy that she was afraid of losing who she'd trained to be in this wacky world, but in her fear, she'd also closed herself off, just as she'd been before she met Ruby. Freedom, agency, the things she wanted most, they didn't mean sticking to only the things you knew. It meant trusting yourself to take a bit of everything from everyone, whatever worked. But she'd still been waiting for someone to show her which path to take. In a way, Gray and Juvia had._

 _Now she had to walk it._

 _She wasn't going to be jumping into bar brawls anytime soon, that was simply reckless. But it would fun to snipe people from the edge. Preferably the loud, pink-haired, fire breathing kind. Or the pun-making kind._

 _Of course, there was one question that still needed answering._

 _Gray cocked an eyebrow at Juvia. "How did you so much about Maker Magic anyway?"_

" _Oh, I've been looking into Water-Make ever since we got back from Tenrou. I'd hoped it would… eh… endear me to you?"_

 _Gray sighed and facepalmed. "Of course."_

 _Juvia's face turned beet red. "You mean it worked?!"_

" _No! That's not—"_

" _What is that?" Weiss inquired, pointing towards the spires of black ice that had been formed from her final outburst. "I didn't cast any spell when I made them and they're… well… that."_

 _Gray grinned like a madman. "That is what I've been hoping you had, the reason why the cold hasn't bothered you from the start. A very special type of magic. A Slayer Type."_

" _A Slayer?" Weiss asked. "Like, Dragon Slayer? And Ruby's eyes?"_

" _Yup. Only yours is a bit more suited to gods."_

 _Weiss' mind froze at that statement. "Go—Gods?"_

" _Congratulations Weiss!" Juvia cheered, pulling the huntress in for another hug that would have made Nora beg for air. "You're an Ice God Slayer!"_

 _Weiss was still trying to wrap her brain around the idea that Gods were real. And that, apparently, she was somehow supposed to kill them._

 _This world was just getting wackier all the time. What would her sister say if she could see her now?_

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

Ozpin sighed as he turned away from the viewscreen, pushing up his glasses to rub the bridge of his nose.

He should have been thrilled, both in public and private. Team RWBY had just scored a resounding victory over Team FNKI, one of the better teams of Atlas' freshman class. Neon Katt had attempted to use mobility and taunts to wear Yang down, but Ms. Xiao-Long had proven that, while she was very much susceptible to the latter, she had evidently increased her speed enough to overtake the cat faunus in the former, her rage only assisting in that regard. Or at least the pink flames she'd conjured with it.

Ms. Schnee, on the other hand, was nearly done in by Mr. Coal's unconventional ranged work. Ozpin had seen many items used as weapons over the millennia, but a trumpet was a new one. Most musician themed combatants he'd encountered in the past had gone for guitars.

However, despite Flynt's brass barrage, Weiss had managed to use a burst of wind dust combined with the volcanic environment to distract the Atlas student with a burst of hot air in order to get in close. And then, surprisingly, she'd proceeded to take advantage of his lack of a melee weapon to _beat him over the head with her sword pommel_.

He hadn't been aware Weiss was capable of such an… inelegant tactic, but he could hardly disagree with its effectiveness.

Headmaster Ozpin should have been proud that his students had represented their school well and advanced to the next round. Ozma, the warrior wizard who was desperately trying to bring harmony to Remnant in order to get the Gods to come back and help him stop Salem from killing everyone and invading… suffice to say he should have been happy that the team filled with ties to his inner circle and numerous public figures was advancing as huntresses.

But, along with Winter's report that James had forwarded him, the man behind him ensured that he couldn't let his guard down.

"So the Ice Princess can kill gods?" Qrow noted sarcastically. He took another swig of his flask as he leaned against the wall. "Just what we need, a Schnee with an even bigger head."

Ozpin sighed. "Ms. Schnee is a perfectly kind and polite young woman."

"Still a Schnee. The Ice Queen might be a mile better than her old man, but she's still got a stick up her ass."

The headmaster decided to drop the subject and whirled around to face his lieutenant. "Just to be clear, Yang possesses some sort of fire magic and Ruby has Requip and her eyes, correct?"

Qrow nodded. "That's all I could get out of them. Yang seems eager to show off what she can do in the singles round."

"I can imagine," Ozpin chuckled. "The girls likely still have quite a bit of ethernano still in their origins from Fairy Tail. With any luck, they won't use it all up before Salem comes for them."

That was one of the primary annoyances of returning to the world. When he'd lived before, ethernano had been bountiful in the world, enough for any mage who wanted to learn to have their fill and have plenty left over. But when the God of Darkness had revoked his gift, and wiped out most life on the planet, he'd taken the majority of the crucial particle with him. Salem, thanks to her unique condition, had an ample supply, though she really didn't need it given her propensity for curses.

As for him, his wife had been more than willing to share when they were reunited. When they had fallen out… it'd taken him an eon to scourge together the power he'd used to create the maidens, themselves gifted with the power to create their own, so much that it radiated out to their immediate surroundings. Anyone else would be restricted from using any truly impressive magic for an extended period simply from lack of fuel. There was a reason he'd only taught Qrow and Raven basic transformation magic. It was simple, but easily sustained.

Of course, that meant it was only a matter of time before Team RWBY's leftovers ran out. So, it was best that he got to work on providing them a maiden to help replenish their stock.

He could only hope Ms. Nikos agreed to his request. He knew asked too much, but if Salem got to Team RWBY, if she completed all twelve of her Gates…

He couldn't let that happen.

* * *

 **Quite obviously, this is a Weiss chapter. She ain't suddenly going to stop being Weiss, but she is loosening up bit by bit, trying to find a balance between the composed and elegant girl she wants to be, while also freeing herself to accept all possibilities and find whatever way she can to take control of her life.**

 **Juvia was unexpectedly fun to write this chapter. I never really cared one way or the other about her in Fairy Tail proper, I liked her but I liked others more, but having her here was a blast, and just served as a reminder how powerful EVERYONE picked for Tenrou Island was. There was a reason Juvia was S-Class in Phantom Lord.**

 **An extra huge thank you to my patrons: ArcherMcMuffin, Gregg Tracton, Keith Traction, StabKingPro, Annaya Chan, and Nora Okonus.**

 **Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!**

 **Go Forth and Conquer!**


	8. Chapter 7

**Alright, RWBY/Zero is officially complete. This story is now my weekly fic. Expect updates on Saturday or Sunday every weekend.**

 **If you wish to support me and my college tuition, please check out my P a treon for future chapter summaries, story ideas and more: p a Treon.(c om) (backslash) themaster4444**

 **Beta-ed by xenosaiyan**

* * *

"Alright, just breathe in. Take in the air and all the ethernano in it. Let it flow into your origin and—"

"Uhhhhhh!" Nora moaned, slumping out of her meditation pose. "We've been at this for hours!"

Ruby cringed. Team JNPR were arrayed before her, sitting on the floor with their legs crossed and eyes closed. As promised, she had begun teaching them magic, beginning with the basic process of taking in ethernano. Unfortunately, she'd failed to account for the fact that Remnant's far lower density of the crucial particle would make gathering enough for a spell quite difficult for someone who hadn't mastered taking it in already. For her and the team, the process had become as natural as breathing itself, so getting enough would be more time consuming than on Earthland, but simple enough. For her friends, who were still trying to consistently gather the fuel, it was a more time-consuming process.

"You just have to be patient," Weiss advised. She had also decided to stick around in the dorm room, though for the most stood off to the side with a small summoning glyph circling before her. "No skill comes without practice."

"Is that why you didn't go partying with Yang?" Nora inquired, flopping back onto the floor. "Apparently the Shade kids are throwing a massive one for all the fighters."

"I have no desire to be surrounded by sweaty fools jumping around to music so loud they can't hear."

"Why? You're getting just as sweaty here. I mean you're already taking off your clothes."

"What are you—ah!" Weiss hissed in pain, a tug of her jacket causing the tape stuck to her skin to pinch her. "Ruby, you said you'd warn me if I started stripping!"

"But I thought it would be okay if it was just us—"

"It is a habit I need to quash!" Weiss snapped. "Winter's still sleeping off the hangover she got after 'processing' my little reveal. I don't want something worse to happen if everyone in the world suddenly sees me naked on live tv!"

Ruby sighed. On one hand, she wouldn't want the whole world to see her naked either and Weiss believing they'd have the chance meant she had faith that Yang would win the singles' round. On the other though, wasn't the reason she even had the tape so that she would get fair warning before she started? Ruby was teaching, she couldn't keep watch the entire time. Especially since she was making exactly zero progress helping her friends.

Jaune cracked open his eyes. "Um, Ruby? I don't want to sound ungrateful, but Nora has a point. Did it take you guys this long to get it? Magic, I mean?"

"Well… no," Ruby admitted, scratching the back of her head. "But we had a lot more ethernano to work with. As soon as you guys master that, the rest will come easily. Whatever magic you can use instinctually should trigger soon after."

"But you said there isn't a lot of that ether-stuff on Remnant?" Nora inquired. "And except for Blake, you guys seem fine, especially with that massacre you pulled in the first round."

"We have… special circumstances," Ruby explained. "Our power is just as costly here, but since Weiss and Yang are Slayers, they can easily recoup their ethernano by eating their elements. And my eyes, for whatever reason, have a massive reservoir of the stuff. It's what powered the book in the first place, and I didn't even know about it then. According to the First Master, it's even got enough to power one of the three Grand Fairy Spells."

Nora cocked an eyebrow. "And those are?"

Weiss rolled her eyes and held out three fingers, counting off as she spoke. "Fairy Law: a radiant light that washes over the surrounding area and uses the caster's life force to wipe out all those they view as an enemy. Fairy Sphere: the ultimate defense that uses the bonds between guildmates to remove people from time in the ultimate protection. And last but not least, Fairy Glitter."

"Oh, that one doesn't sound that bad," Jaune noted.

"It is an unwavering and implacable explosion of light that, if properly used, erases its target from existence."

"Hot damn!" Nora cheered, shooting to her feet with a wild grin. "Where can we get our hands on that?"

Ruby reached for her right sleeve. "Well, I mean—"

"If properly used," Weiss repeated, narrowing her eyes at the hammer wielder. "Each of these spells, and those of a similar level such as the Abyss Break, not only require an enormous amount of power, but also intricate understanding and focus. Magic isn't just some hammer you can buy off a lien-store shelf. It's a part of you, an extension of yourself. It grows with you and you have to grow with it if you're to have any hope of mastering it."

Nora scowled. "Well, what if we are a hammer? What then?"

"Are you any old lien-store hammer?"

"Hell no!"

"Then don't act like one," Weiss dismissed, turning away to return to her summoning practice.

Nora's face fell, settling back down to the floor. Ren gave her a soft pat on the leg. "Don't worry. We'll get the hang of it eventually."

"Easy for you to say. You're like, the best meditator ever!" Nora pointed out. "But me and Jaune stink at it. Heck, I'm sure even Pyrrha is having trouble. At least, I think she is. I might have been asleep for that last bit. Pyrrha, how are you doing? Pyrrha?"

"What?" Pyrrha murmured, her emerald eyes shooting open. She glanced about as the others looked at her. "Oh, sorry Nora. What did you say?"

"Woah," Jaune said. "You got really into, didn't you, Pyrrha."

"Well, what do you expect?" Nora grinned. "Pyrrha's the awesomest huntress in Beacon!"

The girl in question blushed, an embarrassed smile on her face. "It's nothing really. It's actually rather similar to some exercises my mother has always had me do, for focusing before a fight. Granted, I don't think she ever intended me to use it for _magic_ , but it was rather simple to shift it."

"I'll say," Ruby nodded. She had expected Ren to be the best of the bunch due to his self-control, but Pyrrha had fallen right into it all. The silver-eyed girl reached out with her senses, feeling the power pooling within her friend. While the others had managed to snatch a few scraps of ethernano, the Invincible Girl had managed to accumulate a sizable batch of magical energy in their hours of work. "You picked this up just as fast as we did back on Earthland."

"It's just practice," the redhead deflected. She turned to her team. "You guys will get it in no time. I can show you my mom's technique if you want, that might speed it up."

"Never mind us!" Nora squealed, hugging her teammate tight. "You're gonna fight Yang in an epic magic deathmatch in the finals!"

"Minus the death," Ren corrected.

"Well yeah, but still! You're going to kick her butt even more than you were already gonna! It'll be awesome!"

"Yeah, when Yang kicks her butt," Ruby countered with a competitive grin.

Nora yanked Pyrrha to her feet. "Do some magic! Come on, come on, it'll be awesome!"

"Oh, I don't think that'd be needed," Pyrrha said. "We've still got to help you guys after all."

"We'll be fine, Pyrrha. Don't worry," Jaune assured her with a friendly smirk. "There'll be plenty of time for us to catch up. You're the one who's going to be fighting in the single's round."

"Are you sure?"

"Yang isn't going to be happy if you don't give her the best fight you can."

Pyrrha chuckled at the joke. She extracted herself from Nora and turned to Ruby. "Alright. I've got the ethernano. What do I do now?"

Ruby grinned. She guided her friend's hands together before her as they both closed their eyes. "Your origin has converted the ethernano into magical energy. Eventually, you'll learn how to shape that into spells, both from others and those you invent. But for now, just let the power flow through your body. Feel it surge and fall, like the waves of the ocean. It's a part of you now. You're a wizard, Pyrrha. This power is yours to do with as you will. So, don't be afraid. Have fun! Be you!"

They might have been standing there for a few seconds, a few minutes, or even an hour, but Ruby barely noticed, time blurring as she reached out with only her mystical senses in the darkness. One instant, everything was black, an endless pit as empty as the Grimm.

But the next, there was a glow. A shining golden glow guided by a river of magic.

Ruby opened her eyes and released her friend's hands. A moment later, a brilliant golden light erupted all around Pyrrha, engulfing her in a mystical halo like a goddess descended from the heavens. A rush of wind surged all around the room, sending everyone's hair blowing in the wind, Weiss even halting her summoning to gawk at the incredible sight.

Of course, then Pyrrha had shot up into the air like a bullet, barely having time to yelp before she smacked face-first into the dorm roof. The Invincible Girl plummeted back to the floor, groaning as she landed flat on her back.

Everyone was over her immediately.

"Pyrrha!" Jaune shouted frantically. "Are you okay?"

"Can you see? Are you blind?" Nora asked. She raised her hand. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Ugh… I'm… okay. I'm okay," Pyrrha moaned, rubbing her head as she sat up. She readjusted her tousled armor to cover her skin, including a hint of a crimson birthmark at the edge of her forearm that was quickly hidden by her bronze bracer. "I've taken harder hits than that before."

Nevertheless, Jaune held her close as he helped her to her feet, a scarlet blush rising in her cheeks.

"Sorry about that," Ruby said. "It'll get easier to control with practice."

"It'll take a lot of practice," Weiss noted, clutching her chin in thought. "That was quite the power you were putting out. Some kind of light magic, maybe? No, that doesn't explain the flight."

"We'll find out soon enough," Jaune said, smiling at his partner. "We'll need something to do after the festival. Finding out your magic as a team will be an awesome exercise."

"Yeah!" Nora cheered. "You'll be smashing through roofs in no time and flying through the air! It'll be sweet!"

Pyrrha smiled at her teammates and Ruby found the act mirrored on her own face. It might have been because she was always on the outside looking in, but Team JNPR always felt so much more stable than Team RWBY. She wouldn't trade her teammates for the world, but they'd certainly had their fair share of drama in the beginning and even in Fairy Tail there'd been plenty of fights. Team JNPR, after Jaune dealt with that thing with Cardin in their first semester, always seemed to be a solid, supportive family, always together, always happy. And that happiness bled out to the rest of them in turn. It was one of the things she'd missed most about the quartet.

Ren came up, handing a scroll to Pyrrha. "Here, this fell out of your pocket."

"Oh, thank you, Ren," Pyrrha said. She snatched the device from her friend, opening it just to make sure all the systems were working. She cocked an eyebrow at the display. "Huh, a message from Professor Ozpin."

"What is it?" Weiss inquired. "Information for the singles?"

"I don't think so," Pyrrha said. "He just wants me to come to his office tomorrow before the tournament. It doesn't say what for."

Ruby shrugged. "It's probably nothing. He probably just wants to wish you good luck for the tournament. Yang too."

It was nice, in a way. As much as Ruby loved helping people as a wizard and a huntress, it was a good feeling to have her biggest worries be teaching her friends, a friendly tournament, and a mystery why the headmaster wanted to speak with Pyrrha. Sure, there was also finding the book, the unknown elementalist, and the mass of magic hovering above the school, but compared to the terror of being trapped in another world, those were minor details. Now, they had all the time in the world to track down what they'd lost, everyone they loved safe and sound.

And in time, they'd find a way back to Earthland and introduce their friends to Fairy Tail.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

" _And just like that, the guild will bow before our genius! MUHAHAHAHAHAHA!"_

 _Ruby couldn't help but smile at Weiss' cackling, though Wendy seemed a bit disturbed at the white-haired girl's evil laugh. At least Juvia was clapping._

 _The four girls, and Carla, all sat in the middle of Team RWBY's room in Fairy Hills, graciously rented by Erza until the huntresses had figured out enough magic to safely take on jobs. The apartment was about the same size as their room at Beacon, though lacking in the personal decorations that had made their school abode feel like home (Yang was particular cheesed at the absence of her band posters). Still, they had refused to let despair conquer them and, with a little effort, had rebuilt their bunk beds. Even better, thanks to help from Laki, a Wood Make wizard in the guild, they were even structurally sound this time._

 _Though, if she was being honest, Ruby kind of missed having her bed hanging by ropes._

" _Is this normally what people do at sleepovers in your world?" Carla inquired, a skeptical eye locked onto Weiss miniature black ice model of the guild hall, complete with frozen figurines of all the guild members._

" _Of course it is, Carla," Juvia said, finally halting her applause for Weiss. "I made lots of dolls back before I had friends, so it only makes sense that we actually play with them now that we're together."_

" _But are dolls usually used for strategic planning?"_

 _Ruby grinned. "The best ones are. Man, Yang is going to so sorry she missed this."_

" _It was necessary," Weiss declared. "If she or Blake knew, they'd throw off the entire plan. If she hadn't gone out with Natsu and Happy, we would have had to find some other excuse to get her out for the night."_

 _Ruby rolled her eyes. When she and Weiss had invited Wendy and Juvia over for a sleepover, she'd expected cookies and weapons talk. You know, fun stuff, maybe even working out a design for a float that the huntresses could use in the Fantasia Parade. Instead, Yang had already made plans for a game night with Natsu, Lucy, and Happy, and Blake had gone over to Erza's room for… something. Ruby didn't know the details, but Blake had been looking for some books similar to 'Ninjas of Love' and Levy had only frowned when she'd asked the bookworm about it. Ruby was pretty sure the word 'filth' was used in some capacity._

 _Of course, right after Levy had turned her away, the Queen of the Fairies had snuck over to Blake all sneaky-like and told her to meet her in her room. The cat faunus' face had gone beet-red, but she'd darted over to Erza's like her life depended on it._

 _So, the sleepover party was reduced to half Team RWBY, Wendy and Carla, and Weiss' new friend Juvia who'd apparently thrown her off a cliff. Not the best turnout, but it was still plenty of people to come up with an amazing float with. At least, until Weiss had revealed she'd already made a preliminary design and actually wanted everyone's help planning how to win the next Fairy Tail bar brawl._

 _Unexpected, but at least Weiss was trying to get along with their new friends. In her own Weiss way._

" _Um," Wendy muttered. "Are you sure we should intentionally start a fight in the guildhall? Master won't be happy if it gets wrecked."_

 _Weiss waved her off. "Please, there's been more fights in the last week than in our entire time at Beacon. All we're doing is making sure it happens on our terms."_

" _By tripping Gajeel into Erza's cake?"_

" _Exactly. His Iron Scales will wear her down more than anyone else. Then, when Levy tries to calm her down, the combination or her sweat and her 'loss of cake' face will terrify the rest of Team Shadow Gear into falling backwards into our table, which we will have just called Mira over to for a drink, putting her into those pawns' path. Then Elfman will step up to 'protect his sister's honor', and by that point Natsu' love a good fight will overcome his fear of Erza, Gray will join in to show that flame brain his place, and all the rest will fall like the good little dominos they are."_

 _The heiress gleefully rubbed her hands together as another round of cackles echoed from her throat, a thundercloud of all things appearing behind her for a moment somehow. A bead of sweat dropped down Wendy and Carla's forehead._

 _Ruby chuckled at her partner's enthusiasm and Juvia's cheerful clapping. "You know, Wendy does have a point. Is it really a bar brawl if you try to plan it out beforehand?"_

 _Weiss abruptly ceased her laughing and narrowed her eyes. "I am trying to acclimate to our new surroundings, Ruby. But, if I am going to jump into a chaotic mess of drunk and sweaty oafs and join in their foolishness, I am going to win. Especially since all of said oafs are powerful and skilled enough that I would not dream of insulting them but facing them with any less than my best."_

" _I know," Ruby replied. "But still, I think you're missing the spirit of the thing. It's not a life or death thing. It's for fun, like that food fight we had with Jaune and the others."_

" _You mean the food fight we only won because you nearly broke every bone in your body overcharging your semblance?" Weiss sniped. "No thank you. I'll take strategy over foolish desperation any day."_

" _Okay, but I still say you're overthinking this."_

" _Your concern is noted."_

" _Well, I think it is a wonderful idea, Weiss," Juvia cheered._

 _The heiress preened. "Thank you, Juvia. I'm glad someone here understands my genius."_

" _But…" the water wizard spoke slowly. "I wonder if I might propose a slight addendum?"_

" _Oh," Weiss raised an eyebrow. "Alright, what is it?"_

 _Juvia picked up the tiny ice figures of Gray and Natsu. "So, right now, my darling Gray will be fighting Natsu, correct?"_

" _Correct. They're normally rather even, but the lizard-breath will have already taken damage from his bout with Elfman, so Gray should be able to win just in time for us to push him into Erza's path. Then Yang, her semblance supercharged from fighting Cana, Lisanna, and Fried, will come in from behind to take her out. Or at the very least, weaken her enough for Ruby and I to finish the job."_

" _Yes, yes, that is quite good," Juvia said, constantly nodding her head, before freezing in her tracks. She snagged a crudely made doll with buttons for eyes from her pocket and placed it between the Natsu and Gray figurines. "But, what if instead, I leap in the way of Natsu's last attack, my darling is outraged to find me hurt, defeats Natsu to avenge me, but then discovers I'm okay and the two of us go on to defeat Erza and Yang and then go to get married and—"_

 _The water wizard flicked the Natsu figure away and began smushing her doll and the Gray figurine together, making kissing noises all the while. Ruby chuckled at her guildmate's display while Wendy's face went beet red. Carla just sighed._

 _Weiss let her face fall into her palm. "Juvia. Please try to contain yourself. Remember what you promised him."_

 _Juvia suddenly scowled at Weiss, warily eyeing the black ice figurine that represented the heiress. "You just want to keep him for yourself."_

" _I literally just described how I plan to use him as a sacrifice!" Weiss protested. "You just heard it! I gave him no special treatment! He is just a cog in my brilliant scheme!"_

" _I wouldn't say 'brilliant'. It still needs a bit of finetuning."_

 _All four girls (and the Exceed) whirled around to the new voice, the ghost of Mavis Vermillion floating in their midst. The spirit of the First Master leaned over the ice model, her brow furrowed as she scratched her chin, a thoughtful hum on her lips._

" _First Master!" Weiss stammered. "I wasn't plotting against my… wait. What do you mean it isn't brilliant? I accounted for everyone who gets involved in these brawls."_

" _But not everyone who doesn't," Mavis noted. She waved her hand and a figurine of ice, bulkier than the rest of the dolls, materialized on the upper floor of the guild. "Laxus doesn't often involve himself in the guild's bonding activities, but ever since he returned, he always makes a point to watch and see how his friends do. You have Yang, a relatively new member, defeating Fried, his best friend, and Cana and Lisanna, who he sees as dear little sisters. He has grown a great deal since he was excommunicated, but he is still Yuri's great-grandson and that means he has his pride. He could allow Yang to defeat any one of those three and brush it off as the way things go, but all of them right after the other? He'd intervene and squash her in an instant."_

 _Weiss' eyes widened, her mouth hanging open._

 _Wendy tried to shoot her a reassuring smile. "Don't feel bad. The First Master is really good at making plans."_

" _Exactly!" Mavis preened. "I am the Fairy Tactician! My strategies are never wrong!"_

" _Except during the Grand Magic Games," Carla noted._

 _The First Master immediately deflated, awkwardly chuckling as she rubbed the back of her head. "_ Almost _never wrong."_

 _Weiss frantically looked over the ice figures. "There has to be something we can do then! Someone we can throw into Laxus to wear him down enough for Yang to take him!"_

" _That… may be difficult," Juvia informed her. "Aside from Gildarts and maybe Master, Laxus is easily the strongest wizard in the guild. During the Grand Magic Games, he defeated Jura in a one on one fight."_

 _Ruby raised an eyebrow. "Who's Jura?"_

" _One of the Ten Wizard Saints."_

" _The whats?"_

" _One of the ten strongest wizards on the continent," Wendy explained._

 _Ruby's eyes widened. "Woah! Seriously?"_

 _Wendy nodded. "There is sometimes a bit of discrepancy, it is just a title assigned by the Magic Council after all, but it also isn't just for show."_

 _Weiss started hyperventilating. "Okay, okay, OKAY! This is… a problem, but we can handle it. Maybe… we throw Elfman into him, provoke Mira—"_

" _That won't work," Mavis declared. "Mira trusts Elfman to fight his own battles in situations where his life isn't really at risk. And even on the off-chance we could manufacture a reason for her to join the fray, a battle between her and Laxus would inevitably escalate to become a threat to the guildhall itself. Then Makarov will have to get involved and the brawl will end without a victor."_

" _Then what do we do?!" Weiss said. "If no one can fight him without Makarov getting involved, how do we stop—"_

" _We could just not fight him," Ruby suggested._

 _Mavis sent a knowing smirk towards the red hooded girl but everyone else just appeared confused. Ruby picked up an ice figure, painted yellow to represent Yang and moved it away from the three other figurines it was near, pulling one along for the ride._

" _Laxus will only get involved if Yang takes out all three of them. So, we just need her to only take down one of them," Ruby explained. "Fried specializes in battlefield control, depending on how much prep time he has, he could either crush her or she'll crush him, so he's our safest bet for a one on one. We can pit Cana and Lisanna against each other, and one of us can take down whichever one wins, or maybe get Blake to join in. She can do her ninja thing and wipe them out without anyone seeing her coming."_

" _That is… actually quite brilliant," Weiss said. "How come I didn't think of that? It's so simple!"_

" _You were more focused on defeating your enemy than achieving your objective," Mavis said. "It is nothing to be ashamed of. It is a mindset that everyone falls into once and awhile, though we must strive to avoid it whenever we can. Believing we must destroy our enemies is a dangerous path to fall down."_

 _Weiss cocked an eyebrow. "Isn't the point of any battle to defeat your opponent?"_

" _To defeat. Not to destroy," Mavis said. "Sometimes, when worst comes to worst, they are the same. But part of Fairy Tail is to do everything we can to prevent such a crisis. After all, today's foe might be tomorrow's friend."_

" _Like me!" Juvia said, raising her hand. "Though I'm yesterday's enemy and today's friend now. And tomorrow's friend too, also. I'm not planning on hurting anyone in the guild."_

" _We know, Juvia," Weiss assured her. "You've got nothing to worry about."_

" _We will fight for Gray!"_

 _Mavis chuckled as Weiss cringed at her friend's angry eyes. "Do fairies have tails or not? Do they even exist? No one knows. It's an eternal mystery, and thus, an eternal adventure. Nothing is sure on the path, unexpected surprises behind every corner. But, the one thing we can choose is the friends we stand beside on that adventure. As long as you're in Fairy Tail, you'll never be alone."_

 _She walked over to Ruby and placed her hands on the huntress' right arm. Ruby didn't expect to feel anything, the master was just a spirit after all, but a shining glow suddenly blazed even from under her black sleeve._

 _When Mavis stepped away, Ruby rolled up the clothing to see what had changed. Above her Fairy Tail emblem on her wrist, draped across her forearm, was an elongated, arrow-like version of the guild's symbol._

 _Wendy, Carla, and Juvia's eyes widened, their jaws hanging towards the floor._

" _First Master," Carla muttered. "Is that—"_

" _Fairy Glitter," Mavis confirmed, a wide grin plastered on her face._

 _Ruby cocked an eyebrow. "Um, cool. Thanks, First Master. But, what's 'Fairy Glitter'?"_

" _It's one of the Three Grand Fairy Spells," Wendy quickly whispered in her ear. "It's one of the most powerful magics in the world."_

 _Ruby's silver eyes widened in pale moons. "Woah!"_

 _Mavis nodded. "It takes a lot of magical energy to power, but if you can figure out how to funnel the full power of your eyes, you should have more than enough. Of course, even then you'll need to work on the casting. It took Cana months to get it good enough to use it at the Grand Magic Games and she's still working on being able to use it without my help."_

" _And you're just giving this to Ruby... why?" Weiss inquired. "She's only fifteen."_

 _Mavis shrugged. "I was thirteen when I first used Law. Granted, that wasn't the best decision, but I think she can handle it. I have faith that you all will find your way back to your world someday, and I want to make sure you'll never forget us."_

" _Oh," Weiss said. "Well, I guess that's understandable enough—"_

" _Plus, this way you can use it to vaporize all those Grimm things!" Mavis cheered, sparkles shining in her eyes. "They'll be all ready to destroy humanity and then you'll blast them, and it'll all go 'BOOM!'"_

" _Yeah! That'll be so cool!" Ruby cheered, her own eyes sparkling as she examined her new tattoo of power. "Oh man, Yang is going to be so jealous she missed this!"_

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

" _What are you doing in my house!?"_

 _Yang groaned, rubbing her hand down her now red cheek. Seriously, if she hadn't thrown up her aura at the last second, she'd probably be bruising. Lucy may have been one of the less physically inclined members of Fairy Tail, but hot damn she had one hell of a kick._

 _The Celestial Spirit Mage was currently looming over Yang, Natsu, and Happy, having discovered them waiting in her living room when she'd gotten out of the bathroom, wrapped in only a towel._

 _Yang looked to her magic instructor. "You said she knew we were coming."_

" _She did," Natsu protested. "She said to come over for game night."_

" _I said tell me when you want to come over for game night," Lucy reminded him. "Not to sneak into my house like a bunch of crooks."_

" _Oh yeah."_

" _I still think we were right to sneak in," Happy said. "It was Yang's first time. It's pretty much a tradition at this point."_

 _Lucy sighed. "I really wish I could argue with that."_

" _So, are we still doing game night?" Yang asked._

" _Sure. Just let me get something on."_

 _Yang honestly wouldn't have minded if she and Natsu had gone down to Lucy's level instead of her going up to theirs, but it wasn't long before the other blond had disappeared back into the bathroom and come out in an oversized pink t-shirt and baggy light blue pajama bottoms. Soon enough they were all splayed on the floor around a short coffee table, a deck of cards and a few game boxes set to the side._

" _And now the most important thing," Natsu declared. He pulled a lunch box out of his bag and smacked it on the table. He removed the lid to reveal stacks of chicken legs within. "Snacks!"_

" _Aw yeah!" Yang grinned with a fist bump._

 _Happy growled. "Natsu…"_

" _Yeah, yeah, I'm getting it," the fire wizard assured his partner, swiftly pulling out a smaller box as well as one of those Bunsen burners Yang had used (or rather had Blake or Weiss use for her) in Oobleck's science class._

 _Natsu opened the smaller box and Happy cheered at the salmon within. The salmon-haired wizard chuckled at his partner's antics. Then he pulled out a green lacrima and plugged a cord from the Bunsen burner into it, a rush of flames suddenly bursting from the device._

 _Yang's eyes widened. "What the heck is that for? You grilling?"_

" _Better." Natsu snagged one of the chicken legs and held it within the fire. Within a few seconds, the meat erupted into flames, quickly being stuffed into the Fire Dragon Slayer's mouth. "Brings out the flavor and replenishing magic power."_

 _Yang looked to Lucy. "And you're okay with this?"_

 _Lucy shrugged. "If anything catches fire, he eats it before it can do any real damage."_

" _True enough." Yang leaned back and dealt everyone a hand of cards. Apparently, Go Fish was a constant in every universe. "So how does that work, the whole 'eating your element' thing? Should I stock up on ice cubes for Weiss, or can she make her own lunch?"_

" _Eat her own ice? Ew, that's disgusting," Natsu scowled, swallowing her chicken leg in one go. "That'd be like me eating my own fire. Though since Gray's teaching her, she'll probably try anyway. Got any nines?"_

" _Go fish," Lucy told him, before turning to Yang. "For the most part, it's pretty simple. They can eat their element as long as they didn't make it. And for other types, they also can't eat a God Slayer's version of the same type."_

" _Hey!" Natsu protested. "I've eaten God Slayer flames before."_

" _Only because you completely emptied your origin to make room," Happy pointed out. "And even then, you would have been dead if Wendy hadn't been around to heal you right after."_

 _Lucy shook her head. "I swear, for someone who doesn't like strategizing, you pull the craziest moves in fights."_

" _I think you mean the awesomest," Yang grinned. She and Natsu fist-bumped and she grabbed one of the chicken legs, scarfing down a chunk. "Got any threes?"_

" _Go fish," Happy said, taking a huge bite out of his own treat. "Mmm… fish."_

" _Any jacks?" Lucy asked. "And how are you guys coming along, by the way? Weiss has been the talk of the guild for the last few days obviously, and you're certainly coming along, but how are Ruby and Blake?"_

" _Go fish," Yang replied. "Pretty good. Blake's got it the hardest of all of us. She's constantly worried she'll mess up and hurt Loke during training and that's on top of whatever Mira's doing that she's always mumbling about."_

" _The pillows," Happy murmured fearfully._

 _Natsu shuddered. "We spied on Mira training Elfman and Lisanna when we were all younger. It was awful."_

 _Yang cocked an eyebrow. "Right. Well, at least Ruby's happy training with Erza. Not sure if she'll ever have to eat silver or spirit energy or something for her eyes, but she's loving finally being able to bring every weapon into a fight. Her training seems to be going… great."_

 _Lucy's brow furrowed. "I take it there's something more to this."_

" _Is everything okay?" Natsu asked concernedly. "Is Erza beating her into the ground? Don't worry, she's usually pretty good at knowing when to stop—actually…"_

" _No, that's not it. Ruby loves training with Erza, just like I love training with you guys. But, still, it's just training."_

 _Lucy frowned. "Yang, I know you guys want to go home, but you've only been training for a few weeks."_

" _I know, I know, we're not ready for Tartaros yet," Yang said, taking another bite out of her chicken. "But still, we're just sitting here. Don't get me wrong, the guild is awesome, but we're in a whole other world. And we're just standing still when we could be out exploring it, kicking butt, fighting monsters, saving dudes and damsels in distress!"_

 _Now that the shock of possibly never seeing Remnant again had worn off and her team was making steady progress on a way to get home, Yang had begun to realize exactly what kind of gold mine she and her friends had stumbled into. She was a thrill seeker in a world where magic and dragons and demons were real. She had the chance to have crazier adventures than she ever could have imagined back at Beacon, traveling across a continent she knew nothing about. And thanks to the guild, she could even help people and make a little cash along the way. Erza and Master Makarov were being more than generous housing them, but they'd need to start pulling their weight eventually. They couldn't just enjoy the bar fights, the parades, and the beauty pageants and not give anything back._

" _Yang, I'm not exactly sure what you think of when you hear the word 'wizard' in your world," Lucy cringed. "But most of the guild's jobs aren't that glamorous."_

" _You fought time-traveling dragons a month ago."_

" _Yes, but stuff like that isn't what we do every day." The Celestial Spirit Wizard looked away, frowning. "And thank goodness for that. Most of the time we just clear a village of bandits, or chase off a monster, or wait tables at a restaurant."_

" _What?"_

" _But when stuff like the Eclipse Gate or Tenrou Island happen… not everyone comes out alright," Lucy's hands clenched into fists. "Sometimes… sometimes we lose things along the way, and there's nothing we can do about it."_

 _Natsu placed a comforting hand on Lucy's shoulder._

 _Yang's face fell. The Fairy Tail gang was usually so wacky and cheery, offhandedly mentioning trips to other dimensions and fights with dragons, that she never really contemplated exactly how harrowing such experiences must have been. Hell, Earthland, in general, provided such an atmosphere of contentment, of peace. After all, back home, even on the sunniest day, there was always the underlying knowledge that a stray crime or riot could ignite a swarm of negativity to draw in a horde of Grimm. Huntsmen and the entertainment industry did all they could to keep that fact off the people's mind, but Beacon students were taught to always keep the reality of the world in mind. Being in a dimension where that reality didn't exist, where she really could relax without worry, had led her to forget that not all of life's perils came from soulless beasts. She didn't know who Lucy had lost, or who she'd watched lose everything, but she understood the girl was worried she'd pick a fight she wouldn't walk away from. It was touching really, that her new friend was so concerned for her._

 _But Yang had never desired a peaceful life. Even before her quest for Raven, even before Summer's death, she'd wanted to be a huntress. The world was full of wonders and dangers, and she didn't want to miss a single one. She and her friends would face them weapons blazing and emerge all the cooler for it. And anything life tried to throw at them, Yang would make sure they'd come out fine, just like she was sure they'd ensure for her. Together, they would conquer every challenge with smiles on their faces, the ultimate huntresses._

 _Happy came over and patted her on the knee. "Don't worry, Yang. If you really want to go out on some jobs, we can help you find some easy stuff."_

" _No, screw that!" Natsu shouted. When everyone looked to him, the Fire Dragon Slayer grinned. "You want to do jobs? Then we're going to do the awesomest jobs there are!"_

 _Yang's eyes widened. "Seriously?"_

" _Natsu," Lucy said. "She's still training. She's not ready for Tartaros."_

" _Of course she isn't," Natsu replied. "But she's not going to know how far she's come if all she does is train. Even the guildhall brawls aren't a substitute for a real fight."_

" _A fight where she might die?"_

" _I'm a huntress," Yang declared. "Even before I got here, I knew I was going to live dangerously. If you've got a bunch of monsters or bandits lined up, I'm raring to go."_

" _That's what I'm talking about!" Natsu cheered, swiping a chicken leg through the Bunsen burner and gulping down the flames. "Right after the parade, we'll track down a job we can really sink our teeth into."_

" _Aye, sir!" Happy cheered. "Oh, by the way, Natsu, do you have any nines?"_

" _What? Were you just waiting for the chance to do that?"_

" _Of course. You were sounding really cool. You need me to make sure you don't get a big head."_

" _Why you little—"_

" _See, just like that."_

 _Yang and Lucy both broke out into chuckles at the partners' bickering. The blondes may have differed in the levels of danger they wanted to face, but both could find plenty of entertainment in their friends. Whether fighting for their lives or playing a game of cards, nothing was better than having people by your side._

" _Honestly, when we find a way home, you guys should come to visit," Yang said, absentmindedly swinging her chicken leg about over the table before bringing it to her mouth for a bite. "Seeing you guys massacre a pack of Grimm would be pretty freaking—"_

 _Lucy's eyes widened. "Yang, drop the chicken!"_

 _Huh?_

 _The huntress' mouth was already closing around the chicken leg when her brain finally registered the other blonde's words, the taste of the bite flooding down her throat. But, instead of the thick, juicy meat she had felt when she had previously chomped on the leg, she instead felt a sweet, faintly warm liquid surge down her gullet, like half-melted ice cream._

 _Of course, when she looked down at Lucy's shout, she saw the flames rushing from the meat into her mouth._

" _Ah!" Yang shrieked, dropping the chicken immediately. She must have accidentally passed it through the burner while she was distracted by Natsu and Happy. "I'm on fire! I'm on fire—wait. I'm not on fire."_

" _No, you're not," Natsu said, both him and Happy staring at her with wide eyes._

" _Why am I not on fire?"_

 _Slowly, a grin began to creep onto the Salamander's face. "Well, well, well. No wonder I couldn't eat that pink fire of yours right. Looks like Weiss isn't the only natural slayer on your team."_

" _What?!"_

 _Yang's mind whirled, but she had to admit, it did make sense. Even during their big brawl when her team had only learned how to absorb ethernano, she hadn't actually felt as much heat from the flames as she probably should have, only really feeling the scorching force when he'd summoned lightning. And ever since, when Lucy had stepped carefully among the burnt ruins of their training ground, Yang hadn't even noticed when she'd walked through the dying flames._

 _Still…_

" _It's… not Dragon Slayer flames," she said. "But it's not black like Weiss' ice. Would a Fire God Slayer have pink flames?"_

 _Natsu shook his head. "I've met a Flame God Slayer before. His fire was black."_

" _Maybe she's a Fire Spirit Slayer," Happy proposed. "Her eyes might burst into flames at any second!"_

" _Oh, you mean like my carpet!" Lucy roared._

 _Yang, Natsu, and Happy all looked down, Lucy's carpet quickly catching fire from Yang's dropped flaming chicken leg. The Celestial Spirit Wizard had leapt onto her in a panic._

" _Don't just sit there! Eat it before it burns the entire place down!"_

" _Sure. Yang, get to it. This'll be good training."_

" _No training! My house is burning down! My landlady will kill me!"_

 _Yang spared only a moment to be confused before she grinned and leapt onto the fire, the flames instinctively flying into her mouth and down to her origin. She could figure out what kind of slayer she was later. But until then, eating fire was pretty freaking cool._

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

Mercury smirked as he strode away from the cloud of dust, making a big show of wiping off the debris from the wind dust barrage he'd just hammered Xiao-Long with off his shoulders. Had to give the crowd some excuse for why he wasn't whirling around and following up on his ace move for the win.

The crowd of Amity Coliseum roared to fill the seeming lull in the fight, the masses thoroughly entered at their future 'protectors' skill. That was the entire point of the Vytal Festival really, a publicity stunt. A display of peace, a reminder of the kingdoms' friendship? Please. It was meant to lull the people of the world into a false sense of security, make them feel safe that these brave upcoming huntsmen and huntresses would be on the frontlines fighting the Grimm so they wouldn't have to. And they didn't have to feel guilty about training children to fight their battles for them, since if they had time to have a tournament of all things between themselves, then the Grimm couldn't have been that big a problem. Nothing to worry about, nothing to get frightened about. Nothing to be negative about. Honestly, as most of the kingdoms' ploys went, it was actually pretty clever. Cinder even had a note of admiration in her voice when she was explaining it to him and Emerald.

Mercury found it laughable. Just because you put on a big show to make the world seem a little less scary didn't make the monsters that were really there go away. It just meant you had to buck up and get strong enough to kill them before they killed you. His dad had thrown him to his first Beowolf when he was ten, and he'd only escaped that encounter thanks to his semblance. And when dear old Marcus had ripped his soul apart to keep him from using that as 'a crutch', he'd learned to be vicious to survive. His father may have been a drunk asshole, but his beatings had forced him to become stronger, smarter, more ruthless in the world to survive it. And thrive, as the old man had learned when Mercury had taken the mechanical legs he'd oh so generously provided and beaten him to death with them.

Joining up with Cinder had just been the thing to do after that. He was a fighter, a killer, an assassin. It was what he'd been raised to do, trained to do. And he was good at it. It was the only thing he was good at.

Of course, Cinder preferred to act as her own hammer when the need arose. Emerald was perfectly capable of being their little terrorist team's lockpick. So he, surprisingly enough, found himself most often in the role of scalpel, investigating Nikos' capabilities and driving Team CFVY onto the defensive. Not too difficult when his 'education' had put him a league above all the other fighters. With the exception of Nikos, who admirably lived up to her reputation with both strength and smarts surprisingly, and that Penny girl, who was a literal living weapon, he wasn't threatened by the academies' rosters.

Xiao-Long wasn't any different. He could appreciate any girl who loved a good scrap, but the blondie wasn't nearly as good as she thought she was. Her form was solid enough, but her fighting style was painfully exploitable. Rush in, hit as hard and fast as possible, get hit in return, count on semblance for the win, get really angry along the way if someone touched the hair or used any juvenile taunts. If Cinder hadn't ordered him to make it look good and then throw the fight, he would have taken extreme pleasure in showing her exactly where she stood in the world.

Oh well. He'd just have to satisfy himself with framing her for assault.

Though, admittedly, she'd done much better than he'd expected her to. She was faster than she'd been at the Breach, stronger too if he had to guess. She had been throughout the tournament. She hadn't activated her semblance or used any dust, but he could have sworn there were flames ghosting over her fists at various points in the fight, before they'd disappeared into thin air. Cinder had mentioned that whatever Team RWBY had gone through thanks to her boss' book would have made them more powerful, but he'd nearly had to go all out at several points in the fight to keep the upper hand.

Still, a quick glance at the jumbo screen showed Yang's aura at exactly sixteen percent. Just one more punch, one more bullet, and she'd drop into the red and he'd win, moving onto the next round of the festival, as if it mattered. Cinder said to throw the fight though, and he wasn't arguing with the boss lady. He'd let Xiao-Long use her super-charged temper tantrum to break his aura wide open without even a hint of fighting back.

He felt the heat before anything else. He whirled around to see flames bursting out from the dust cloud, a side effect of blondie's hair lighting on fire whenever she used her semblance. All according to plan… wait.

Why was the fire pink? And why did the air suddenly feel twenty degrees hotter and a hundred times drier, like the arena had suddenly become a desert.

" **Fire Devil's Rage!** "

Mercury's eyes went wide as a rush of pink flames suddenly erupted from the smog, hurtling towards him like a barreling freight train. His surprise lasted barely a moment before his instincts kicked in, his body automatically firing a pair of dust rounds from his boots and using the momentum to hurl him headlong into the flames.

Just like when he'd done the same thing against Amber's stream of flames, he curled into a ball, turning his body into a living bullet and shooting through the blaze, his aura the only thing keeping him from being charred to ash. But unlike against the Fall Maiden, where he'd cut through the barrage like a hot knife to deliver a heavy kick to the girl's face, now he found himself stalled. Amber's barrage had been untrained and unfocused, just like her powers, a hasty defense thrown up to shield her from an attack she was too inexperienced to handle as effectively as she should have. Yang's fire was an attack, a hammering assault meant to wipe him out, her flames pressing in from all around him harder than the maiden's ever did, the difference in their heat like comparing the furnaces of hell to an everyday campfire.

In the end, it proved far too much. Mercury was sent flying backward, his body soaring over and out of the arena. He plummeted down a full story before he was stopped, his fall arrested and cushioned by energy barriers specially made to prevent serious damage from a ring out. Through his blurry vision, his head still fuzzy from the heat, he noted that such was how he lost the match, his aura meter dropped to be about even with Xiao-Long's, but still above the red. But to get him down to that point from where he was with just one attack…

"Yang Xiao-Long of Beacon wins!" Professor Port cheered over the loudspeaker, the crowd going wild for the winner, blondie no doubt doing a victory dance as the arena slowly descended back to ground level. "What a way to kick off the finals!"

Mercury scowled as he wobbled back to his feet, his legs creaking with protest, more than a bit scorched by the blaze. Just as against Amber, his pants had been completely burnt off, exposing his prosthetics to the world.

Emerald, or rather an illusion of her created by her semblance, flashed into being right next to him. "Cinder says the plan's off. You're exposed and in sight. Just keep your cover and we'll deal with this later."

Mercury didn't bother replying before the illusion dissipated. Just because he could see the hallucination didn't mean Emerald could hear what he said to it.

He wasn't entirely surprised that Cinder had called off the plan. The frameup would have called for Xiao-Long to attack his leg, apparently breaking it, shocking the crowd at her apparent barbarity, but still leaving him available to hijack the broadcast feed for Cinder when they made their big move. With the masses aware of his mechanical legs, it would only make them confused why the bloodthirsty berserker had attacked his false limbs instead of his real ones. Not exactly the negativity that would attract more Grimm to the city.

But really, he was pretty sure the boss lady had called the frameup off for the same reason he currently couldn't stop his arm from shaking as he walked up to meet Yang as the arena finished its descent. Whatever Team RWBY had gone through thanks to that book, it hadn't just made them a bit stronger and faster. It had given them, or at least blondie, power the likes of which Mercury had only seen from Amber and Cinder herself; magic. With such new information in hand, it wasn't a bad tactical move to keep the four huntresses… unprovoked. Less of a chance of them possibly wrecking everything if they still thought throwing Torchwick in prison solved all the world's problems.

Still, Mercury didn't like this. His father had ripped his semblance from him, torn his soul asunder to satisfy his own sadistic urges. Now, he was crippled in far more than just his legs. But he hadn't let that stop him. He trained harder than anyone else could have dreamed, worked himself to the bone until he could take revenge and kill Marcus. And he kept up that training, to make sure he would never be powerless again, semblance or not.

And Xiao-Long, someone who relied on her semblance, someone he knew he could crush even with it, had just beaten him. Sure, he hadn't been going all out for the rest of the battle, but clearly, she hadn't either. Because she had magic. The same power he'd been practically powerless against when he'd fought Amber had been handed to Yang. And once again, he couldn't do anything against it.

He plastered a false smile onto his face and walked over to his victorious opponent, holding out a friendly hand for the cameras.

Yang turned towards him and eagerly shook it. "Thanks for the great fight, handsome. Didn't think anyone but Pyrrha would be able to make me go that far." Her eyes danced over his legs and widened. "Woah! You're..."

"Devilishly handsome?" he cut in before she could get to the pity party. "Why, thank you. I aim to please."

"Well, yeah, no denying that. But you're…"

"A fighter. One you beat, fair and square," he said, even as the admission tasted like acid on his tongue. "Nothing less and nothing more."

Yang held his gaze for a moment before nodding and breaking out into a smile. "I'll be surprised if anyone gives me half as good a fight."

Mercury kept up his smile as their hands finally separated, her skin's unnatural warmth still burning on his own.

He couldn't leave Cinder's little gang. Even if he thought the aspiring Fall Maiden would accept resignations without fiery death, he didn't know what else he could do. But since he was staying, he was sure to encounter more magic users in the future. And if he didn't do something, he'd be as powerless against them as he was against Amber and Yang. As he'd been against his father.

He wouldn't be powerless. He wouldn't be weak. He wouldn't be broken.

Never again.

* * *

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 **Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!**

 **Go Forth and Conquer!**


	9. Chapter 8

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 **Beta-ed by xenosaiyan**

* * *

Qrow had thought he knew all the reasons he disliked Atlesian Specialists. They were uptight, self-important, and arrogant. They thought that just because their kingdom had created the CCT, that automatically meant they could walk all over everyone else and decide how they lived their lives. But now? Now, he understood the real reason his gut boiled whenever he saw one of those ridiculous white uniforms.

They were crowding up his favorite bar.

"And that was when I stabbed the Vacuo bastard up his rear end! Probably couldn't sit in his tent for a week!" a redheaded woman with dark yellow eyes chortled to a table full of white coat wearing stiffs. While any other group might have burst out laughing at what was presumably a hilarious, if slightly racist to Vacuoans, story, the squad of specialists just raised their shots and chuckled a bit before sipping their drinks. Sipping! It was ridiculous!

Of course, Specialists refusing to completely cut loose even in their off-hours was hardly a new thing. Why they had come to his favorite dive bar of all the establishments in Vale was another, far more vexing mystery. One he found the answer to huddled away from her peers at the back corner of the bar counter.

He wasn't sure he'd ever seen Winter Schnee look so disheveled. Her prim and proper bun still held its basic form, but there were more than a few strands of snow-white hair out of order on the normally pristine head. Her jacket, which he didn't think he'd ever seen with even a single button undone, was now open down to the third from the top. The ever-proper Ice Queen had her elbow on the counter supporting her lagging head, her glazed eyes blankly staring at the half-finished food and drink before her.

Qrow was hardly above kicking someone when they were down, he liked to think it was his specialty, but seeing his usually collected sparring partner so out of sorts was quite… disconcerting. And since he knew the feeling of discovering the whole 'magic is real' thing quite well… damn it.

He saddled onto the stool next to the specialist. "You know, when I told you about this place, I wasn't counting on you inviting a whole squad here."

Predictably, Winter sneered. "They wanted to celebrate their arrival before the final rounds tomorrow. They asked for a suggestion. I make it a point to avoid coming to Vale whenever possible to avoid _you_ , so this was the only place I knew. Now leave me be, Qrow. I'm in no mood for company."

"You see, you say that. But you're also eating fried jalapenos and whiskey, which is a cry for help if I ever saw one."

"It was the only thing resembling a vegetable on the menu." Winter picked at one of the deep-fried peppers, her finger coming away wet. "I did not expect the grease."

Qrow smirked. "And the whiskey? I'd think a Schnee could at least afford top shelf?"

"I tried wine first, that always seems to do the trick for mother. But I didn't feel anything. The bartender said this would have more alcohol, but it tastes disgusting."

"You don't drink for the taste," Qrow said. "You drink for the excuse."

"Excuse?"

Qrow shrugged. "Sure. To be social, to have fun, to forget, to not be yourself for a few hours, there are lots of reasons to drink, but they're all excuses. I'm guessing you're hoping for one that'll let the world make sense again."

Winter looked away. "I am a huntress and a Specialist of Atlas. I don't need the world to make sense."

"But it's still disorienting when it suddenly doesn't. Leading you here," Qrow finished. When Winter still didn't meet his eyes, he sighed. "Look, I'm the last person to say this, but coming here every night isn't going to make your sister's new skillset any more believable."

"She can kill gods. Gods are real. Magic is real, and I can't tell anyone because it's classified, and I still don't know the whole story because the general won't trust me with it," Winter ranted in a whisper, careful even as discombobulated as she was to not be overheard. "The world seems to have rotated onto a new axis, so what do you suggest I do, Branwen?"

Qrow took a deep breath to keep the instinctual snarky comeback from shooting out of his mouth. Winter was being defensive about the whole thing, but he was more than aware that suddenly finding out the world wasn't as small as one thought wasn't an easy process. The Nikos girl was as demure as they came, and she had barely kept it together after they'd asked her for help with the Fall Maiden problem right before Yang's match. Hell, he, Raven, and even the usually never drinking Summer had all hit a bar when Ozpin had first told them the truth. Of course, that didn't help, the only thing that had was…

"Talk," he told Winter. When she merely raised an eyebrow at him, he continued. "Look, you don't like me, and I don't like you. But, like it or not, I'm in the know. We're on the same side. If you can't talk to Jimmy because you're worried he'd think less of you for not acting like a perfect little soldier, which he wouldn't by the way, you can talk to me."

"So you can belittle and insult me?"

Qrow rolled his eyes. "I promise I will do my best not to make fun of your… Atlas-ness. Now, what's really got you worried?"

That got Winter to finally meet his eyes, even if it was an icy glare. They held their furious stare for several seconds before the Schnee finally sighed.

"Ozpin believes that there is someone behind the recent White Fang activity, who assisted Roman Torchwick, correct? And that someone even more dangerous is backing them? Can you at least confirm that much for me?"

Qrow frowned but nodded. It seemed Ironwood had let Winter know the basics of the Salem situation. Would have been hard to convince Winter to get info from Weiss if he hadn't, so Ozpin probably wouldn't mind.

Winter gulped. "And this backer… do they have… have magic, like Weiss?"

Qrow caught his hand before it could start shaking, memories of his last trip to the Grimmlands, of the horrors and curses he witnessed, of the flames of hell he'd barely dodged on his escape flooding his mind.

"Of a sort," he replied. "It's a bit different, doesn't rely on the same energy and is called a curse, but it's just as dangerous, if not more."

"And, this person… they'll come for Team RWBY because they're in Fairy Tail? They'll come for Weiss?"

"Oz hasn't let me know all the details, but essentially, yes."

Winter sighed. She took a long swig of her whiskey, enough to make even Qrow raise an eyebrow, before slapping the glass back on the counter.

"When she showed me her magic, the power to slay gods, she froze the entire pavilion we were sitting in. Your niece cut away a third of that Mercury boy's aura and nearly burnt him alive in a single shot," she muttered. "Their magic is already equal to the most powerful semblances I've ever seen, and I don't think we've seen the limits of what they can do. Is this backer more powerful than them?"

"Yes."

Qrow loved his nieces, but he had seen the forces at Salem's command, the power at her command when only two of her Gates and their guardian were ready. Even if Ruby's eyes were Spirit Slayer, even if Yang was a Devil Slayer, Team RWBY wouldn't stand a chance against the Eclipse Etherious. Especially not the Ophiuchus.

Winter clutched at her forehead. "I always knew that Weiss would be in danger if she became a huntress. I thought I'd come to terms with it. But this… this is more than just killing Grimm or protecting kingdoms. This enemy is coming for her, specifically, an enemy so powerful the General has summoned an entire fleet to confront it and still isn't sure it will be sufficient to stop them. My little sister is a target and I don't know how I could possibly help her. I'm so… so…"

"Out of your depth?" Qrow finished. He unclipped his flask from his belt and took a sip. "I've been dealing with this craziness for nearly two decades now. Trust me, that feeling isn't going to go away."

"Then how do you deal with it?" Winter pleaded. "I've seen the way you are with your nieces. You must be as terrified for them as I am for Weiss. How do you handle it, knowing that such power is coming for them?"

Qrow looked down, suddenly very interested in the veneer of the counter. Winter's question was one that had haunted his mind for years, since back when Team STRQ was still a team, Ozpin's elite huntsmen, doing everything they could to keep the maidens and Relics out of Salem's grip. Back then, he'd been a fool, blinded by the adventure and arrogance of youth, thinking his was a story of redemption, a pair of twins who rose above their murderous roots with the help of a loyal jokester and their guardian angel leader.

But then his twin had run straight back to those roots, the jokester's loyalty was never repaid, and their guardian angel had tried to kill the devil all on her own. And paid the ultimate price for it. Ever since then, Qrow had thought the answer to the question was to stay away from the people he loved whenever possible, so his semblance couldn't hurt them like it had Summer and Tai. Of course, it wasn't like Salem needed his help to doom the world, she was plenty powerful enough to do it on her own if Oz wasn't always standing in her way.

So, he'd stand with him, at his old headmaster's side. While Glynda was his right hand, keeping his scepter aloft and reinforcing the order it provided, he would be the left, Ozpin's dagger in the dark, venturing where a respectable public figure could not go to fight the good fight. It was a place to belong, a just purpose, a life of doing good, unlike the tribe. And even if it cost him his life, he'd do whatever he could to protect Ruby and Yang and the world they lived in. Even if he could never be a part of it.

"Don't worry about it," he finally answered. "Or do worry about it but know that it's not inevitable. The backer, she'll strike eventually, but we can stop her. The world wouldn't still be turning if we couldn't. Right now though, is the calm before the storm. There is nothing we can do, so relax a little. That way, when the time comes when there is something you can do to help that little clone of yours, you'll be able to do it without regret."

He took another swig from his flask, inwardly preening at his little speech. Summer herself couldn't have done a better job if he didn't say so himself.

It must have done some good, because the Ice Queen actually chuckled, cracking the smallest hint of a smile. She passed her fried jalapenos to him. "You want these? I'd finish them but… they have so much grease."

Qrow smirked, his hand already reaching out. "Motivational speech for fried food? I've heard worse deals."

Unfortunately, another hand reached over his own to snag the peppers.

"Hey!" he said. "Hands off you jerk!"

The hand curled back into a mouth, specifically the mouth of the redheaded specialist who'd been telling the story earlier. She wore the same uniform as Winter, only with even more of the buttons undone and her fiery hair running down past her shoulders.

She grinned at Qrow as she stuffed the peppers into her gullet. "Oh yeeaaeeh, cuume ann ge'um."

"What?"

Winter's smile disappeared. "For gods' sake, swallow, Tremaine."

The redhead did just that, licking her lips after she finished. "Right, thanks, Win! But seriously, don't use my last name when I'm flirting."

"Flirting?" Qrow squeaked, banging on his throat as a drizzle of whiskey went down the wrong pipe.

Winter sighed. "Qrow Branwen meet Ana Tremaine, the Specialists' version of you."

"As in?"

"She's a drunk," Winter looked turned to the redhead. "Tremaine, meet Qrow Branwen. He is over a decade older than both of us."

"Hey! I'm not old!"

Ana smirked. "Hey, a silver fox is still a fox. Can't let my old leader have all the action."

Qrow was no stranger to flirtation, he'd had many a wonderful night with many an innkeeper, but the fact that a Specialist, drunk or not, was the one doing it left him flatfooted. So much so that he latched onto the first bit of information he could that wasn't confusing.

"You two were teammates?"

"Yup! Team White, W.H.T.T," Ana said. "Me, Win, my sister Driz, and our friend Holly. Best team Atlas has ever seen."

"And I still can't get you to stop with that ridiculous nickname," Winter hissed. "My name is only two syllables. You don't need to shorten it."

"Oh, would you rather I just went with Ice Queen like everyone else?"

"Ha!" Qrow laughed as Winter's face reddened. "So even your own people do it!"

Winter growled. "And just when I thought you might have been tolerable." She rose from her stool, setting a small pile of lien bills on the counter. "I'm going to turn in for the night. You should too, Tremaine. The general won't accept jet lag as an excuse if you're here all night and late to your post tomorrow."

"Yeah, yeah, will do, Win," Ana waved, her former leader marching to the door. However, the redhead whirled around right before she could leave. "Oh wait! I almost forgot. The Council Chairwoman said to cut loose a little. Those were her exact words, so you got to do it."

Winter actually paused for a moment. "I will… take that under consideration. Please give her my best if you see her before I do."

"Will do!"

With that, the Ice Queen left the bar.

"The Council Chairwoman?" Qrow asked. "What's that about?"

"Esper Rosenflos, friend of the general's, old mentor from our academy days," Ana explained. "Winter _really_ looks up to her."

"Really? Do you?"

Ana shrugged. "She's better than my mom, that's for sure."

A dangerous glint appeared in the redhead's dark yellow eyes. She slipped down into Winter's former seat. "Now then, since the Ice Queen wants me to get some rest tonight, how's about you and I settle our business?"

Having recovered from the shock, Qrow finally registered that a bombshell redhead was flirting with him. Specialist or not, that wasn't something a man just passed up, especially when her open coat was as… unencumbering as it was.

"You're not really drunk, are you?" he inquired, just to be sure.

Ana grinned. "Don't worry, silver fox. I might play things up to mess with Win, but I hold my booze better than most. I am fully aware. And fully looking for a fun time."

Alright, good to know. He wouldn't want Ruby or Yang to be taken advantage of while they were intoxicated, so he was glad he wasn't doing it to someone else. Plus, it was generally a dick move on principle and in practice.

He leaned back in his stool. "Alright then, let's settle our business. You owe me some fried food."

Ana smirked. "How about a drink instead?"

"That'll do. That'll do nicely."

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

"Mam, is everything alright?"

Cinder set down her tablet, shooting Emerald a confident smile. "Of course. Why so concerned?"

To most, the Team CMEN dorm would have felt like a powder keg just waiting to go off, the light of the shattered moon ominously intruding through the slit of the window. Neo had wisely made herself scarce, laying the groundwork for her infiltration of the Atlesian battleship where Torchwick was imprisoned. Emerald and Mercury could not even do that, both of them sitting stock still on their beds, the former out of devotion, and the latter knowing that his relevance to their recent debacle made fleeing her presence… unwise.

To Cinder, this was how the world should be, awaiting her every command, too terrified to even begin to conceive of harming her, of taking what was hers ever again.

Emerald shared a worried glance with Mercury, but when her partner looked away without providing aid, the thief was left to explain her words alone. "Well, it's just… the plan failed, didn't it?"

"Failed?" Cinder chuckled for show, it wouldn't do to let her minions believe her unsettled. "Well, you are correct that our opening move has been deflected."

It was irritating how often that seemed to be happening lately. First, Roman had been forced to execute the Breach several days ahead of schedule, before she had the time to shut down Atlas' defenses so the Grimm could ravage the city with minimal resistance. And now, her gambit to use Mercury and Yang Xiao-Long to provoke negativity between the kingdoms had gone awry as well. Despite her outward calm, Cinder was absolutely rankled by the constant crinkles in her schemes.

It all led back to them, Team RWBY. Those four had no idea she had any ill intentions and yet they had proved to be the most constant thorns in her side. From the tournament, to the Breach, to that very first night Ruby Rose had tried to thwart her robbery. Once was happenstance, twice was a coincidence, but three times? Something bigger was going on with those four, and she didn't think it was Ozpin, at least not entirely. Her mistress had instructed her to give them that book, they'd disappeared for three days, and when they'd returned, they'd had magic. She'd sensed it long before Xiao-Long's display against Mercury. They must have been quite confident they had nothing to fear if they had not hidden their energy like she and Ozpin had.

Still, why had Salem deliberately sought to strengthen them after the Breach? Was she impressed that the four had derailed Cinder's gambit? Did she think that stroke of blind luck made them worthy to be candidates, that they were worthy to stand beside _her_?!

Cinder felt heat rising in her hands, the maiden's power reacting to her fury. She took a deep breath and shoved it back down before it gave away her location. A full maiden's power would bleed ethernano no matter how well controlled, but with only half its strength she could manage it easily enough. Qrow had likely told Ozpin Amber's assailant had infiltrated Beacon, but he wouldn't have any idea who it was unless she lost control. And she would not lose control.

Like Teacher had always said, one needed to keep their eye on their goal and understand what methods were available to reach it. Emotions had no place on the battlefield and would only get in the way.

"The plan itself is still well on course," she told Emerald and Mercury. "As irritating as Team RWBY's interference has been, it has ultimately caused no irreparable damage. We'll have to have Adam and his men rile up the Grimm physically to compensate for less negativity, but after Nikos' match tomorrow there should be more than enough to push everyone over the edge. As long as you both do your jobs, everything will turn out exactly as planned."

"Of course, mam," Emerald nodded.

"Will do," Mercury said. "But I was wondering—"

"What did I tell you both before?" Cinder growled. "Don't think. Obey."

Mercury paled. "Right, right. I'm all about obeying. But… Xiao-Long, she got her magic from that book, right?"

"Obviously, you idiot," Emerald said. "She certainly didn't use it when Neo was kicking her ass on the train."

"Heh. Don't know how she makes that story so funny without talking," Mercury chuckled. "But anyway, I was thinking, if that book could make them that strong, why not give us a turn with it?"

Cinder narrowed her eyes. "Are you asking for magic, Mercury?"

"Um… yes? Yes, that's exactly what I'm doing."

Cinder scowled, but at least he still had a healthy fear in him. "The book has been returned to my mistress. If you wish to take the matter up with her when we are done here, you will be free to do so."

Mercury gulped. "Your boss? Great, will do."

"But, Mercury," Cinder said, slipping a hint of honey into her voice. "There are powers in this world far greater than mere magic. The incident this afternoon was not your fault, but I expect you to do everything in your power to ensure a similar situation does not arise. Do that, serve me well, and well, I'd be more than willing to sponsor the both of you as candidates for my mistress' Gates."

"Both of us, mam?" Emerald piped up.

Cinder shot her a kind smile. "Of course, Emerald. Beacon is only a steppingstone after all. I'll need you by my side as I climb to even greater heights."

A light blush rose to the thief's cheeks, Mercury smirking at the display. "I… I won't let you down, mam."

"See that you don't."

The goal, for now, was the Fall Maiden. She could not survive the pain of using the Ascension Chamber like Tyrian and Hazel had, and she could hardly count on Watts to finish the upgraded model any time soon either. Which meant she needed the maiden's power to complete her evolution and stand at the Queen's side with Teacher. To do that, Team RWBY was not her main obstacle.

Ozpin was. Ozpin had hidden Amber. Ozpin was keeping her from her birthright. And to get it, and retrieve the Relic of Choice for her mistress of course, she needed to make him show her where it was. It would take some doing, but it was entirely plausible. The man was paranoid, rightly so given the overwhelming power he had held off for millennia. He knew Salem had agents in Beacon, and if she pushed him, say with a Grimm invasion, he would fall back to defend what he knew was the real target. And since she had eyes throughout the school thanks to her Black Queen Virus, she'd see exactly where that was.

Of course, riling the Grimm up was a task in and of itself. Salem held influence with them, but ultimately, they were creatures of the God of Darkness. She could control them within her domain of the Grimmlands, but outside there they would resist her touch, the natural enemy of their lord. And she was quite adamant that this was Cinder's mission. She would not do it for her.

So, she'd begun small, having Roman and the White Fang perform their robberies to set an atmosphere of unease and vulnerability within the city, as well as aggravate human-faunus relations at the same time. Then, the Breach, a sizable, but ultimately manageable shock to the populace, erasing their faith in their kingdom's invulnerability. Taken together, it created an undercurrent of dread going into the Vytal Festival. As much as people tried to reassure themselves watching their future protectors show their strength, they couldn't help but wonder if these children would be enough. Atlas' fleet and the newly arrived Specialists had only helped with that atmosphere. After all, if the greatest kingdom on Remnant was sending so much of their grandiose might, what exactly were they expecting to fight?

The negativity was in the air and the Grimm smelled blood. Whatever little gloom had been lost to Team RWBY's intervention could easily be recouped. The stage was set, and all they needed was one last shock to raise the curtain.

Cinder reopened her tablet and double-checked that she had done everything needed to set Nikos against Ironwood's little toy. It would be ridiculous if all her plans crumbled because she forgot a keystroke.

Of course, she hadn't, it was her after all. But it would be good to check over the garrison and make sure she knew where all of Ozpin's pawns would be. He might have brought in a few extra agents with the recent Specialist Squad—

Cinder's hand froze, her fingers ghosting over the list of newly arrived Specialists she'd retrieved from Ironwood's scroll. Her golden eyes widened and locked onto a single name.

 _Tremaine._

"Mam? Mam! Mam, stop!"

Emerald's cries pulled Cinder out of her stupor, her eyes blinking away smoke that hadn't been there a few moments ago. A glance beneath her revealed the fire that had ignited upon her bedsheets. She furiously waved her hand and the flames disappeared, leaving behind only ash atop her mattress.

Mercury and Emerald were both pressed against the opposite wall, only just recovering their breath.

"Mam," the green-haired thief spoke tentatively.

"Emerald, go outside and use your semblance to keep anyone from entering the room," Cinder commanded. "Mercury, change these sheets."

"Right," the cocky assassin replied. "Will do, boss."

Cinder rose and strode out of the room, Emerald taking up her position at the door as she left. The fire hadn't lasted long enough for the smoke detectors to go off, but Ozpin or Team RWBY might have sensed the surge of magic if they'd be looking for it. She'd have to head all over the school and throw up a few decoy signals to keep them off the scent. One of the few benefits to having only half the maiden's power was that it could be cloaked.

It was amateurish, reacting as she had. Ana would get what was coming to her in time, just like the rest of her family. But at the moment, she was irrelevant. The Specialists would be stationed at the school, so they wouldn't interfere with Mercury and Emerald's tasks on the Coliseum or Neo's on the battleship. Her emotions regarding that ant would do her no good. They would not help her achieve her objective.

To strong. To be feared. To be powerful.

To never be beaten or weak again.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

" _Yang! I need more glue down here!"_

" _I'm still putting up the ribbons, sis! Just have Weiss freeze your stuff on!"_

" _Ice melts, you dolt!"_

" _Really? Even the god killing kind?"_

" _It's still ice! Argh! Where is Blake?"_

" _She said she was going to read that book Erza lent her. I'll go see if she can take a break to help."_

" _No, wait, Ruby—"_

" _Ah, ah, ah, don't you dare leave if don't want to lose that glue, Xiao-Long!"_

 _Erza chuckled, Yang's indignation as Ruby charged back into Fairy Hills proving more entertaining than it probably should have. Team RWBY had taken a day off from their training to work on their float for the Fantasia parade, the girls predictably bickering just as surely as they progressed. Of course, Blake, not wanting to spend her one day of rest from Mira's training doing more work, had instead holed herself up in the team's room with the book Erza had lent her._

 _It had been a bit surprising to find out the calm, collected huntress shared her taste for more… risqué literature, but Erza was not about to leave Blake without a substitute for her 'Ninjas of Love'. Besides, this way, if the time ever came when Erza ended up on Remnant (a possibility she could hardly discount given Fairy Tail's propensity for unexpected happenings), Blake would be willing to let her borrow her library in return. It was a win-win!_

 _Though, given the familiar cloaked figure that was approaching her as she rested in the shadow of an oak tree, perhaps it was not the best time to be thinking of such fantasies._

" _You don't have to sneak around here," she reminded him. "No one in the guild would report you after everything that happened at the Games."_

 _The figure, the emblem of Crime Sorciere plain to see on the front of his armor, came up next to her. "Your victory attracted more than a few new members who would not be nearly so inclined." He tilted his head towards Team RWBY's float._

 _Erza smirked. "Oh, I wouldn't worry about them recognizing you."_

 _A sculpted face that had once ranked quite high on Sorcerer Weekly's most desirable wizard bachelors raised an eyebrow at her, his intricate and distinct crimson birthmark stretching as he did so. It wouldn't surprise Erza if there were still some girls out there collecting his wanted posters._

" _They're from another dimension," she explained._

" _Another dimension? Like Mystogan?"_

" _Pretty much. Though, they'd thought wizards were… well… a fairy tale before they met us."_

 _Erza sat down in the shade, leaning against the tree trunk as it swayed in the wind. She patted the grass beside her. "Now stop trying to be mysterious. Unless Meredy has finally convinced you to get a magicmobile, it's probably been ages since you were off your feet. This is probably one of the few places you can rest easy. So, relax."_

 _The cloaked figure paused for a moment, but soon he sighed and took a seat beside her, pulling back his hood just enough for her to get a clear look at his face._

" _Thank you. It… hasn't been easy to relax lately."_

" _Still no sign of Ultear?"_

 _Jellal shook his head. "We'd hoped she'd turn up with time, but it seems her letter really was her final goodbye."_

 _Erza placed a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder. She had mixed feelings about Ultear. The woman had brainwashed Jellal into committing horrible acts, set in motion events that had led to both Simon's death and immense suffering for both her and her friends. But at the same time, she was Gray's foster sister and had saved all their lives by restoring the Tenrou Tree during their battle with Hades. After that, she had saved Jellal from the Magic Council and done everything in her power to atone for her sins, even sacrificing her life during Future Rogue's attack on Crocus, if her final letter to Crime Sorciere was to be believed._

 _In the end, it was the guild's tenants that led her to choose to mourn the woman. She had been one of their most vile enemies, but in the end, had chosen to be their friend. For Fairy Tail, that meant a great deal. Besides, if Jellal, who had been made one of the most wanted and hated men in the world because of her machinations, could forgive her, why shouldn't she?_

" _How have the two of you been?" she asked. "Are you alright without her?"_

 _Jellal shot her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, we'll manage. Besides, there are far more important matters we need to deal with."_

" _What do you mean?"_

 _His pensive frown returned. "Doranbolt shared some information he got from Cobra during the battle. The gate of the netherworld has been opened. Tartaros is on the move. Since then, there have been spikes of Zeref's magic all across Fiore and minor dark guilds have been disappearing without a trace."_

 _Erza scowled, her eyes glancing towards Weiss and Yang, the pair now engaged in a tug-o-war over the glue bottle between them. Jellal noticed her stare and raised an eyebrow. "I'm guessing you suspect them in something as well?"_

 _The Titania nodded. "Those four fell into the guildhall out of a black and gold portal. According to them, it was conjured from a book that had, among other things, Tartaros' emblem on it. At the moment, they're trying to get strong enough to go after them."_

" _After knowing nothing about magic their entire lives? Best of luck in that endeavor."_

 _Erza shrugged, a proud smile blossoming across her face. "You'd be surprised. They've got a long way to go, but three of them are natural Slayers."_

 _Jellal's eyes widened. "Three Slayers? Naturally? From a world without magic?"_

" _I know," Erza chuckled. "If their fourth member hadn't had Take-over, I'd wonder if everyone from their world could use Lost Magic."_

 _A small laugh escaped the blue-haired wizard. "Wouldn't that be a sight."_

" _Indeed."_

 _It was nice, to be able to laugh together. After everything they'd been through, all the pain, all the torment, all the deeper emotions that neither of them were ready to fully deal with yet, it was truly a gift to be able to just sit back on a warm sunny day and enjoy each other's company._

 _Alas, they both had greater responsibilities, and thus such peace could not last._

 _A frown crossed her face. "Jellal, do you know anything about Silver Spirit Slayer Magic?"_

" _I can't say I do," he replied. "I imagine it is similar to the other Slayer types, correct?"_

" _Normally," Erza mused. "Ever since the first day they arrived, Ruby, their leader and my student, has held great potential with that power, even if she is focusing on Requip at the moment. It was what powered the book that brought them here."_

" _I see," Jellal remarked. "Her eyes are the source, right? They did feel similar to Lucy's keys."_

" _They do," Erza confirmed. "But on the day they arrived, there was more to it. A tinge of darkness, that faded soon after. It almost felt similar to… well… the Eclipse Gate."_

 _Jellal's brow furrowed. "Are you sure?"_

" _Positive." Erza's eyes narrowed. "Why? Has something happened?"_

 _Jellal was silent for a few moments before sighing. "The remains of the Eclipse Gate. They were stolen."_

" _What?!"_

" _The Royal Family has been keeping the news quiet. If word reaches the Council, Doranbolt's entire coverup could be in danger. I only know because he contacted us to see if we knew anything."_

" _Do you think it's Tartaros?"_

 _Jellal shrugged. "Maybe. They'd certainly have the power to do it but… I don't know. The guards were all knocked out, but they were left alive. Tartaros isn't usually so merciful."_

 _Erza frowned. "Perhaps a moral outlier? A more noble agent than normal? Their Hoteye, Azuma, or Meredy?"_

" _Perhaps. Or there's a new player with their own agenda—"_

" _Erza!"_

 _The two wizards' heads swerved around as a storm of rose petals rushed out of Fairy Hills, depositing Ruby right before the two, clutching a book with a sword on the cover as her eyes watered._

" _Uh… yes, Ruby?"_

 _The red hooded girl pushed forward the book, the title reading 'An Almanac of the Most Mystical Swords in the World'. Erza's face immediately paled, especially when she saw Blake dashing out the dormitory herself._

" _Why did you only give Blake this?!" Ruby wailed, her teammate coming up behind her. "I want to know about the most mystical swords in the world too!"_

 _Erza really didn't want to have to tell her protégé that the book in her hands contained very little about swords, except in chapter twelve when the warlord's turned into an Adonis to rebel against his master for the sake of the maiden… which was not important at the moment. While it was something she'd found a great deal of joy speaking with Blake about, she'd never had someone she could talk with it about, it was also a subject she really didn't want to be brought up around either a fifteen-year-old or especially Jellal._

 _Fortunately, she had prepared for such near discoveries._

" _I… am… so sorry, Ruby," she stuttered. She quickly snatched the book from her student's hand and with a flash of light, transported it to her requip space. An instant later, it was replaced with a tome that was actually about swords, one she had stored away to switch out with her raunchier novels if she was ever caught reading them. "I just thought this one would be far more interesting to you."_

 _Ruby took the new book and a bright smile broke out across her face. "Spears, Scythes, and All Kinds of Mystical Polearms? Awesome! Thank you, Erza!"_

 _The Queen of the Fairies grinned at her pupil. "You're welcome, Ruby."_

" _So, who's this guy?"_

 _Once again, Erza paled, her futile hope that Ruby and Blake wouldn't notice the other person clearly sitting next to her immediately proven false. She needed an excuse, a reason for him to be here that wouldn't provoke the justice-seeking huntresses' instincts. She turned to face Jellal, his face as panicked as hers._

" _He's… he's…"_

" _I'm… I'm… uh…"_

" _He's my fiancée!" Erza shouted. "He's my fiancée… Siegrain! He's my fiancée Siegrain."_

 _Jellal's cheeks instantly went red. Erza had about a moment to feel a hint of vengeance for when he used a similar ploy on her, before she realized exactly what she'd said, and then her face turned the same color as her hair. Not only was it far too close to certain emotions she did not want to deal with at the moment, but even as a cover, it was pitiful. Ruby and Blake had been at Fairy Tail for weeks, with the former spending nearly every day with her. Now, she just suddenly had a fiancée that no one had ever mentioned before? Who in their right mind, or even a Fairy Tail mind, would ever believe such a ridiculous excuse—_

" _You have a fiancée!" Ruby squealed. "That's amazing! Why didn't you tell us you were getting married!?"_

" _Yes. Why didn't you?" Blake added, far more sardonic._

" _Um… because…" Erza stuttered. "Because… uh… I've just been so distracted with everything that's been going on it… slipped my mind."_

" _And I've been away," Jellal added hastily. "On a job. A very… very dangerous job. Full of… danger."_

 _Blake's eyes narrowed. "Really?"_

" _We're so sorry!" Ruby wailed, falling down to her knees. "You were so busy helping us that you had to neglect your fiancée! We're so, so, so, so sorry!"_

 _Blake smacked her hand over her face._

 _Erza's eyes widened. "It's… it's alright, Ruby. None of that is your fault."_

" _But—"_

" _There is no shame in needing help, Ruby," Jellal cut in. He took the young girl's hands in his own and helped her to her feet, flashing her a gentle smile. He rotated her palm until her guild mark was turned up. "This mark means you are part of the Fairy Tail family. Sometimes, people need to make sacrifices to help family. But even if it is a burden, those who need help should never feel shame for needing help. Everyone does now and again, and friends will be willing to lend a hand."_

" _Oh," Ruby noted, now much calmer. Even Blake looked impressed by the speech. "Well, thank you anyway. We'll try to make sure you guys get some time with each other from now on."_

" _Thank you. That is very considerate of you."_

" _Oh! You haven't met Weiss and Yang yet! You're gonna love them!" Ruby cheered, tightening her grip on Jellal's hands._

 _The former Wizard Saint immediately paled. "Wait, what—"_

 _The pair were consumed in a cloud of rose petals, near-instantly reappearing beside Weiss and Yang, whose glue fight had evidently escalated to raising ice and fire at each other by the time their leader appeared before them with the wanted fugitive._

 _Blake turned to Erza. "Well, he can give quite a speech."_

 _Erza chuckled nervously as she rose to her feet. "He was in politics."_

" _And you're marrying him?"_

" _He was one of the good politicians."_

" _A rare catch indeed," Blake noted. "Though, I don't think hijacking a Magic Council Weapons Satellite and trying to resurrect the evilest wizard of all time would qualify him as 'good'."_

 _Erza sighed. "How'd you know?"_

" _Other than you being horrible at lying? I've been looking over wanted posters trying to find anyone that can lead us to Tartaros," the cat faunus explained. She nodded her head to where her teammates were greeting the leader of Crime Sorciere. "So, why are you sheltering Jellal Fernandes? From what I read, he and Fairy Tail, you especially, have a turbulent history."_

" _Because he is innocent," Erza defended instantly. "He was brainwashed. His actions during the Etherion Incident… they weren't his fault. And even then, he's been trying to atone for them ever since."_

" _Atonement, huh?" Blake mused, looking down. "I know how that feels. But still, are you sure you can trust him? I've known someone I thought was good, who I believed in more than anything, and… I saw him take a turn for the worse. And by the time I realized what was happening, it was far too late."_

 _Erza placed a comforting hand on Blake's shoulder. She didn't know exactly what Blake was referring to in her past, but she could tell she wasn't speaking without experience. Just like Erza, she'd watched someone she'd loved become a monster, and had to take a stand against him. And yet, the Titania sensed the huntress hadn't been so lucky as to find out the man she'd loved had merely been being controlled the entire time._

" _I won't say he has been without mistake, but he has more than proved himself," Erza assured her friend. "He is a good man."_

" _Are you saying that because he is, or because you love him?"_

" _The… the former. Obviously," Erza declared, her face red once more. She glanced away from the cat faunus, a resigned frown on her face. "Besides, even if the latter was involved in my decision, in any way, he doesn't think he's 'worthy' or whatever. He'd just claim he had an obviously fake fiancée and we'd go right back to dancing around everything."_

 _Blake's eyes widened. "Like Raiders and Maidens 3?"_

 _Erza whipped around to meet Blake's eyes. "Exactly like Raiders and Maidens 3! How did you get so far so fast?"_

" _I stayed up all night!"_

" _It's so great, isn't it?!"_

" _I know! The maiden's quest is so detailed, and the jester is actually funny! That never happens!"_

" _Ooo…"_

" _What?"_

" _No, I don't want to spoil anything…"_

" _Tell me!"_

" _They have a you-know-what scene in book five!"_

" _Really?! Yes! My ship!"_

" _I know!"_

" _Hey! What are you two squealing about over there?!"_

 _Erza and Blake both froze at Weiss' shout._

" _No—Nothing," Blake called. "Just… dark guilds. And evil magic. Tartaros and stuff."_

" _Oh, okay."_

 _Both wizard and huntress sighed in relief. Their eyes came to rest on the rest of Team RWBY, who seemed to be bombarding a panicked Jellal with questions, no doubt about how his romance with Erza had begun._

" _You should tell them who he really is," Blake told her. "They deserve to know."_

" _They do," Erza agreed. However, a mischievous smirk rose to her lips. "I'll do it after he leaves. Let him squirm for a bit."_

" _You sure that's a good idea."_

" _It's part of his atonement. He'll love it."_

 _Blake frowned. "No one loves atonement. It's just something that has to be done. To make sure our sins are never repeated, even if we have to die for our mistakes to save our friends."_

 _Erza's eyes widened. She grabbed Blake by the shoulders and wrenched her around to face her, the cat faunus' amber eyes flashing with confusion as she went only to freeze under Erza's glare._

" _Blake, I don't know what you went through in the past, or what it is you're trying to make up for, but I will tell you right now to forget such thought," she commanded. "Your friends, your team, love you. They accept you for who you are. So don't make them suffer by throwing yourself away out of guilt. There may come a time when sacrifice is necessary, but until that time, you don't die for your friends. You live for them. Do you understand?"_

 _The normally collected huntress was shattered before Erza's words. "I… I… But, I've done so much wrong. Hurt so many people. Including Weiss. And if I cause any of them to get hurt—"_

" _Face the bastards together and make them wish they never messed with Fairy Tail," Erza said. She shot Blake a reassuring smile. "You are not alone, Blake. So don't try to cut yourself off with shadows of the past."_

" _I… I'll try."_

 _Erza pulled her into a hug. "That's all anyone can ever ask."_

 _For a few moments, they just stood there embracing, the Black Fairy and her Queen, not so different as others might think, but strong nonetheless._

 _In time, they pulled apart, Erza grinning a wolfish smirk. "Now then, let's go watch my 'fiancee' squirm."_

 _Blake managed a small smile and the both of them walked over to the float to join the others, all the world seeming just a bit brighter than before._

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

The roar of the crowd. The glow of the lights. The mechanical cacophony of the stadium's shielding systems coming online. The announcer's voices booming throughout the arena. All the eyes of the world squarely on her.

It was a situation Pyrrha had been in a hundred times, and yet for the first time since she'd come to Beacon, she'd never felt so alone.

She'd been grateful not to have been called up during the first day of the singles round, she'd hoped a good night's rest would have given her more insight into the choice before her, but she found her head no clearer than it had been when Ozpin had first taken her into the vault.

It had certainly been a lot to take in. Discovering the Headmaster and Professor Goodwitch had some sort of secret society with General Ironwood, Ruby and Yang's uncle, and who knew who else would have been a day in and of itself, but to find out that they also knew about magic? She'd thought Team RWBY had only found out about it because they'd gone to that other world. Still, the small hints of power she'd felt coming off Professor Ozpin and Qrow had lent credence to their claims.

And whatever doubts she might have had were more than put to rest when she'd seen Amber.

When she had managed to collect together enough ethernano to perform the brief spell she had, there had been a warm, soothing feeling in her chest, like a match burning against a cold night. When Ruby had shown off against Nora their first night back or when Yang had finished off Mercury, whatever mystical sense they had taught her had felt strong steady torches emanating from the huntresses, blazing defiantly against a sea of darkness. When Ozpin had told her of the maidens, she'd thought that they'd be about that strength, mighty enough to be worthy of the headmaster's praise but weak enough that it could still be suppressed enough that neither she nor the more experienced Team RWBY could sense it.

But then she'd entered the vault.

Instantly, a rush of heat had washed over her like she had stepped out into the Vacuo desert, her life endangered by a power beyond what she could ever hope to understand, a force of nature bearing down on her soul. She'd seen Amber, floating half dead in her pod, but mystically, the broken girl felt as if she were the sun itself, not just beating back the darkness but annihilating it entirely. The air was no longer parched with only scattered patches of ethernano but bulging with it, a reservoir nearly overflowing.

Ozpin had explained right after that the vault, like those that hid certain items at the other academies, was made to hide magical signatures, so it had been the perfect place to hide Amber since her condition prevented her from regulating the half of her power she still possessed.

 _Half_. That churning supernova of raw magical energy was only _half_ her power.

And someone had actually managed to put her in this state when she'd had it all? Someone who now had their own half? Who could possibly be that dangerous?

Ozpin and General Ironwood had put forth their offer then, an entreaty really. They wanted to put Amber's power in her, to fuse the other girl's soul with her. Both of them were upfront that they had no idea what the process would do to her, two of the most powerful men in the world confirming her worst fears that she might lose who she was if she went through with it.

To Pyrrha, losing that, and everyone who she cared about was a thought more terrifying than anything. Her mother, Aunt Rosa, Ren, Nora, Team RWBY… Jaune… if she did this, the Pyrrha they knew might cease to exist. She'd lose them. She'd be more powerful than she could have ever imagined, but alone once again. In her mind, it was far from a trade up.

But if this threat was as grave as her teachers said, then they would all be annihilated if they had no defense against it. At least this way, even if she lost them, they'd still be alive. She didn't want to be alone, but Pyrrha Nikos did not let others down.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how one looked at it, Professor Ozpin had rejected her immediate answer. He didn't want her jumping into the matter carelessly. She'd need to give him an answer by the end of the Vytal Festival, but she'd have time to think it over. Saying "no" was a perfectly acceptable option to her teachers, without shame or judgment.

But if she didn't accept, they'd just have to find someone else to do it. They'd asked Pyrrha because they'd thought she was the most suited of the candidates they had. If she refused, she was just signing someone else up to die, deferring responsibility for her loved ones' safety to someone else, just because she was afraid to lose them. She was being selfish. She was letting everyone down.

But she didn't want to lose everything.

She'd talked about it with Jaune earlier in the day, as she could while being sworn to secrecy. She asked him if she believed in destiny, a goal to achieve. It was a childish interpretation, one her mother had told her of when she'd confessed to feeling destined to be alone, the Invincible Girl, forever isolated. Her mother had refuted that instantly, saying that she if she wished to have friends, then she needed only seek them out. Because no one was destined to be alone.

Pyrrha had wanted to be a huntress, to help people. She'd wanted to have friends, to not stand alone. Jaune had advised her not to let anything get in the way of her destiny, but he hadn't realized that she was worried that _he_ was what was standing in her way. And she didn't want it if she had to give him and all her friends up to get it.

She'd burst into tears at the contradiction and when he'd moved to comfort her, she'd lost control of her semblance for the first time since she was twelve years old. She'd smashed him into the wall by accident and fled when she'd finally set him down. She'd have to apologize eventually but… but… but not now. She needed to clear her head. She needed to do the one thing she knew she could do. _Fight_.

Thus, she had returned to Amity Coliseum and found herself face to face with her opponent.

"Salutations, Pyrrha Nikos! It's an honor to finally meet you. This is going to be so much fun."

Pyrrha did her best to return Penny Polendina's enthusiasm, giving a slight wave back. She'd never spoken with the Atlas girl herself, but she knew she was good friends with Ruby. Hopefully, that meant she'd be a skilled warrior. Pyrrha might not have been in any way close to figuring out how to use her magic at will, let alone in combat, but she was still the finest warrior in Beacon, even among the older students, and her semblance was a potent ability in its own right. It usually took Yang, Nora, or an entire team to give her a battle she had to actually try in, the rest just allowing her to go through the motions of her training. The only person she'd ever faced who overwhelmed her in combat, forced her to unleash every skill and trick in her arsenal, was her mother.

She needed that now. She needed Penny to be strong, so strong that Pyrrha had to devote every ounce of her being to beating her. She needed to get lost in the fight so she could find some clarity in the rest of her life. If that could happen… things would get better. Yes, that was it.

After this fight, everything would get better.

Or so she thought.

A few minutes later, when Penny's broken _metal_ body clattered to the arena floor, she learned just how wrong she was.

The viewscreens all around the coliseum went red, the symbol of a black queen chess piece shining across them.

" _This is not a tragedy. This is not an accident…_ "

Pyrrha didn't hear the rest of the speech, she barely heard the crowd start to scream when it finished and Grimm began to attack the stadium's shields. She merely fell to her knees, her blank as the world came crashing down around her.

* * *

 **I expected this chapter to be so hard to write, since it was essentially just setting the stage for the Fall, but it actually turned out to be a treat. It was fun getting into all the characters heads.**

 **Qrow and Winter's scene was a way of both showing how the elder Ice Queen is dealing with her newly opened eyes, Qrow delving a bit into his worldview, and introducing an OC. I am absolutely terrified of writing OCs because I am firmly of the opinion that fanfiction is for reading about the characters you already love in new situations. That and I'm not sure if I can write a whole cloth character capable of being entertaining next to those I love so much. Rest assured, Ana Tremaine and those that follow in her footsteps in the story will very much be low to mid-tier supporting cast at best. This story is about the characters of RWBY and Fairy Tail, not anyone else.**

 **Cinder's scene was a nice way to break down just how much careful planning had to actually go into stirring up the Grimm for the Fall and just why she wanted the White Fang to be her goons. I'm not the biggest fan of canon Cinder, but I hope to do more with her here than I did in my previous story. Unless Volume 7 comes out with new details about her, I've got a backstory and motive set that will hopefully fit with her canon actions and leave room for growth moving forward.**

 **I had so much fun writing the flashback this chapter. From Erza and Jellal having a moment and discussing the movements leading up to events both canon and unique to here, to hiding the smut from Ruby, to Revenge of the Fake Fiancee, to Erza and Blake bonding over smut, to their discussion on atonement, it proved to be a wealth of character interaction for me.**

 **And finally, Pyrrha sets the stage. With no frame-up of Yang, Ruby had no reason to suspect foul play, and thus the girls are even more unprepared than before, as well as having no idea what Emerald can do or that Team CMEN is behind the conspiracy (since apparently, no one can tell it is Cinder's voice over the mic in canon. Eh, she didn't talk to any of them that much, that's excusable). Make no mistake, even though Team RWBY has magic, they are still as massively outgunned by a full maiden as they would be by Dragonforce Wendy. They are more powerful, but that does not erase the danger they're in.**

 **An extra huge thank you to my patrons: ArcherMcMuffin, Gregg Tracton, Keith Traction, StabKingPro, Annaya Chan, Nora Okonus, Paula mandel, and Carl Li.**

 **Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!**

 **Go Forth and Conquer!**


	10. Chapter 9

**Been helping my brother move back home from college this weekend, so this is a bit late. My apologies.**

 **If you wish to support me and my college tuition, please check out my P a treon for future chapter summaries, story ideas and more: p a Treon.(c om) (backslash) themaster4444**

 **Beta-ed by xenosaiyan**

* * *

Ruby had seen a lot of terrible things in her life, faced dangers most would never have dreamed of. Grimm, wizards, dark magic, even demons, all of them had tried to do her and her friends in. Though a mixture of skill, strength, and sheer dumb luck, they had all survived every time, no matter the odds. Yes, she was aware that there was always a lethal danger to their life, she remembered her mom promising they would make cookies when she returned only for her to never come back, but such finality always seemed to be separate. A possible fate, but one that would never come.

Then she saw Pyrrha's semblance tear Penny to shreds right before her eyes.

For the first few seconds after it had happened, her mind was in chaos. Pyrrha had killed Penny. Her friend had murdered her other friend. But why? Pyrrha had barely even known the robot girl and she certainly wouldn't do it for the tournament—

Then Invincible Girl had dropped to her knees, her emerald eyes blankly staring at her victim's metal remains. Right after, the Black Queen had appeared on the stadium's viewscreens and a voice Ruby couldn't quite place but knew she'd heard before began rambling on about how the academies couldn't be trusted and how the kingdoms were on the brink of war. When the screens went dark, alarms began to flare all throughout Amity as Grimm began smashing into the coliseum's shields. The crowds erupted into terrified screams and stampeded for the exits.

Ruby didn't hear any of it, barely saw any of it, her silver eyes narrowing in fury. Pyrrha's reaction and the speech's timing slid everything into place. Whoever had taken over the broadcast had planned this, had somehow manipulated her friends into killing each other.

She didn't consider herself a vengeful person, but she believed she'd very much enjoy introducing the woman on the microphone to her arsenal. Specifically, her cannons. The Full Magnolia would _love_ to meet her.

"Ruby? Ruby!" the silver-eyed girl was roused from her daydream but her partners constant shaking. Weiss looked over her fearfully. "Are you alright?"

For a moment, she wanted to scream that of course she wasn't alright, her friend had just been murdered right in front of her. But she understood that Weiss was asking out of concern and, more importantly, she was her leader. She could mourn Penny later, but with a giant Nevermore crashing down into the arena and charging straight for Pyrrha, she had to stay strong. Just as the Strongest Team looked to Erza for guidance, Team RWBY looked to her. She wasn't allowed to falter when possibly the biggest battle of their lives was about to begin.

"I'll be fine," she replied quickly, rising to her feet. Magic flowed through her body and Crescent Rose flashed into her hands from her requip space. "We've got work to do—Where's Blake?"

While Yang had chosen to stay behind from Pyrrha's match ("If she uses magic, I don't want any sneak peaks before our match!"), Ruby had been seated with Weiss and Blake on either side of her throughout the entire thing. Yet now she found the cat faunus missing from her flank.

Fortunately, a simple gesture from Weiss towards the arena floor revealed her location, the former terrorist dashing past Pyrrha to crash head on with the Nevermore.

Before Fairy Tail, such an action might have made Ruby worried for her friend. Blake was perfectly capable as a fighter, but her specialty was agility and stealth. Not exactly a skillset suited to taking on a Nevermore the same size as the one that had taken all four of them to kill during initiation. After Fairy Tail, Ruby was still concerned, Blake more than the rest of them was limited in her magic supply, but who was she to criticize the huntress for moving to protect a friend?

A golden glow ignited along Blake's hand as her fingers curled into a fist.

" **Regulus Claw!** "

The shining light bent around her arm, taking the shape of a lion's paw. The blazing phantom limb smash right under the Nevermore's bone mask, crumpling the demonic bird's skull and sending it crashing across the stadium. The beast's body quickly began to dissolve into flecks of darkness.

Except there was something about it. Ruby had seen hundreds of Grimm die in her life, many killed by her own hand. But she'd never been able to sense magic around any of them before.

"Ruby," Weiss muttered softly, her eyes wide. "Did you feel that?"

The red hooded girl nodded. "They feel sort of like… Celestial Spirits? Except not? They're… I don't know, the darkness to their light."

"But if they're spirits, then that means your eyes and—Blake! They're spirits!"

The cat faunus' head jerked back towards them, the glow fading from her arm. Unfortunately, they didn't have the time to confirm she'd heard them before a swarm of Griffons crashed down into the arena. The leader of the pack immediately surged towards Blake's exposed back. Its claws, powerful enough to rip apart flesh and bone, tore straight through the huntress.

Only for said huntress to disappear in wisps of dark smoke. The Grimm had barely a moment to look surprised before the real Blake appeared atop its head. Her hands came down and crashed into the beast's back.

" **Take-Over!** "

As the wizard's shout echoed throughout the Coliseum, the Griffon suddenly exploded, its shadowy remains cycling around Blake's falling form, a black maelstrom of dust and darkness. For a moment, Ruby was afraid something had gone wrong, Blake had never fully done this before after all, merely siphoned power from Loke, but at last, a sickly yellow light glimmered from within the typhoon and the essence of the spirit was sucked into the huntress.

Unfortunately, the process must have disoriented Blake because the cat faunus did not land on her feet. She tumbled through the black mist and smacked into the ground, her body convulsing as shadows flickered over her skin. The rest of the Griffons flinched away from the huntress, terrified at their leader's sudden disappearance.

But fear only lasted so long, especially for monsters made to track by it. Soon, the creatures began to circle Blake, like vultures ready to feast upon a corpse.

Ruby and Weiss hopped over the stands and into the arena, glyphs beneath them both as they rocketed to their friends' aid.

Of course, in their haste, it had slipped their minds that they were not Blake and Pyrrha's only friends.

All as one, like a thunderous artillery, twenty rocket lockers crashed down into the Griffons, bashing the demons into paste.

Ruby grinned as she and Weiss made their way to their teammate, crouching down as Blake struggled to her knees.

"You alright?" Weiss asked.

"I… I…" Blake stuttered. "I… think so. Yeah, I think I'm okay."

"Good," Ruby smiled. "But hey, if Grimm are spirits, that means you've got lots of things to absorb now—"

"No!" Blake shouted, staggering to her feet. When she saw her teammates startled reactions, the cat faunus looked away. "I mean… not for now. There's something about that's… wrong. Dark."

Weiss frowned. "You can't have much of Loke's power left after that attack. What if you run out?"

"I'll make do," the cat faunus replied. "Take-Over is a tricky enough magic as it is without throwing… whatever that was into it."

Ruby wasn't sure how she felt about that, they'd likely need every trick they could for the upcoming battle. But Blake knew her magic and her limits better than they did, so she nodded her assent to the plan, receiving a grateful smile in return.

"Ruby?"

The red hooded girl turned to the tentative voice, Pyrrha kneeling before her with tears welling in her eyes. "I am so sorry!"

"It's not your fault," Ruby insisted immediately. "This was planned."

The redheaded huntress' eyes widened. "Planned?"

"She's right."

All four huntresses whirled around. A grin blossomed across Ruby's face.

Standing before them, their weapons retrieved from the newly arrived fleet of lockers, was every huntsman and huntress that had competed in the tournament, Team JNPR in the lead. Jaune carried Milo and Akouo up to his partner, helping her to her feet.

"The person on the microphone," the blond huntsmen growled. "They're the one responsible for this."

For a moment, Pyrrha hesitated, glancing fearfully between her weapons and her hands. Hands that, manipulated or not, had taken the life of an innocent. Ruby may not have blamed the other girl for Penny's fate, but there was no guarantee that she did not blame herself.

But, blame or not, the past was the past. Life moved on, as cruel and callous as it could be. It was the Fairy Tail way to move forward with it, keep going to find what joy could be found on the eternal adventure. And right now, that adventure was defending their school and their kingdom.

Pyrrha's eyes hardened like the emeralds they imitated. She grasped her weapons from her partner and leader and nodded. Whether it was a mask or not, the Invincible Girl was back.

Ruby smirked. A pair of crashes smacked into the arena and Weiss and Blake retrieved their blades. With that, the assembled teams of huntsmen raced out to the docks.

They met General Ironwood there, fresh from brutalizing an Alpha Beowolf and about to head up to retake a battleship that had apparently been captured by a 'vagabond', with a bullhead full of Atlesian Knights as backup. He'd given them a speech, assuring them that no one would fault them, the teenagers who were still in school, if they chose to get to safety.

Honestly, it was nice that he cared about them and was relatively not patronizing about it. But there really was only one option for all of them and they were on a shuttle to Beacon as soon as he boarded his ship.

Unfortunately, the good general's ship plummeted from the sky in flames only a few moments later.

Ruby's eyes widened in shock before narrowing at the only remaining battleship, her fingers already flickered across her scroll.

"What's the plan?" Weiss asked, noting her leader's feverish movements.

"We do our job," Ruby declared. "The general said the White Fang are attacking Beacon. Whatever is going on, whatever this is about, their target is the school. Yang's already there, probably hasn't called because she's having a blast, but with that many Grimm they're going to get overwhelmed eventually. Blake, do you know anything about specialist protocol from your… uh… training days?"

Blake frowned, but nodded. "With the entire kingdom under attack, they'll secure the main plaza as a safe zone for non-combatants and then get everyone to the city as fast as possible. Even with the festival, there are way more civilians there and that means it's a higher priority to defend."

"Good. Weiss, meet up with your sister and make sure that the safe zone stays secure. Blake, find Yang and bring as many non-combatants as possible to the plaza."

"And what are you going to?" Weiss inquired.

Ruby caught sight of an object rapidly approaching the shuttle. She grinned. "I'd bet every lien in my cookie reserve that the 'vagabond' that's taken control of the general's ship is Torchwick. I'm gonna show him just how much 'Little Red' has learned since we last saw each other."

"What?" Weiss screeched. "And just how are you planning to… no. Ruby, don't you dare!"

Too late.

Ruby dashed out the back of the airship over her partner's protests, leaping into the sky as the wind ripped past her face. Within an instant, she activated her semblance and flashed onto her rising rocket locker, grappling onto the surface with her scythe. Before long, she'd climbed as high as she needed to and leapt down onto the surface of the battleship.

A few moments later, she was confronted by a short woman in a pink suit with an umbrella. She vaguely remembered Yang looking up here bounty poster after encountering her during the Breach. Neopolitan was her name if Ruby was remembering correctly. More importantly, she was Torchwick's most consistent associate, which meant the nefarious criminal couldn't have been far.

Neo took a picture on her scroll and then smirked at Ruby, twirling her umbrella. Despite the situation and exactly how heinous her foe's actions were, the red hooded huntress found herself mirroring the expression. After all, she had a _lot_ of rage to work out over Penny's murder.

And if Fairy Tail had taught her anything, it was that there was no better way of working out your emotions than with a good fight.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

There was an old Mistralian proverb that had been quoted to Winter quite often during her academy days. ' _He who seeks peace should be prepared for war._ ' Or, less eloquently, no matter how much you want things to go well, anything and everything will go wrong and you just have to deal with it.

The special weapon P-1 being destroyed and revealed on international television was already a veritable diplomatic firestorm on its own. But for the resulting shock to be flamed into mass panic and negativity to attract the largest horde of Grimm Winter had ever seen, aided by a legion of White Fang, and in the midst of sacking one of the four academies? With their air cover completely eradicated? That was perhaps the greatest catastrophe since the Mountain Glenn disaster.

Still, they were specialists, not green huntsmen. They were trained to handle the worst. Forming a spearpoint to cut through the invaders, they cleared out the school's main plaza to act as a safe zone, their knights and automated paladins surging in to secure the perimeter. Slowly but surely, they managed to create a route to funnel civilians to the docks, where they could get to relative safety in the city. Once they were cleared out, the squad and their forces could launch a counterattack on the invaders.

At least, that was the plan before the knights' visors went red.

For a brief moment, Winter was a bit confused by the change in the machines, but she and most of the other specialists were far more concerned with the horde of unholy hellbeasts trying to tear them limb from limb. Fortunately, one of them was a bit more cautious.

"Win, down!" Ana yelled. Her former teammate vanished in a brief flash of light, reappearing right beside Winter and pulling her to the ground. Not a second later, their robotic forces turned their guns on the specialists, raining bullets down on those who had only moments before been their commanders. If not for Ana's warning, which the rest of the squad had at least taken note of, they might have all been wiped out by the sudden betrayal.

Both Ana and Winter leapt back to their feet, their enemies' numbers no doubled while their own were slashed to barely a third. Thankfully, with aura enhanced strength, Winter's twin blades cleaved through metal as easily as terrorist or Grimm. Ana's twin machine pistols made mince meat of their attackers, flashing back to right next to the drone that had initially aimed at her and putting a dust cartridge through the center of it visor.

Unfortunately, the robots were not only attacking the specialists and their scarce human troops. The very machines they had relied upon to protect the civilians they were guarding had now turned on them, six paladins whirling about to encircle the population.

"Ana!" Winter shouted, gesturing with her head towards the endangered. Her former teammate quickly nodded and disappeared in a flash of light, reappearing right on top of the foremost paladin, sticking her guns right into its vulnerable joints and unloading her entire magazine into it.

Nevertheless, Winter immediately dashed for the units. Ana's semblance, Rebound, besides being rather aura intensive, allowed her to teleport to any unoccupied position within her line of sight, but it was not without its drawbacks. Whenever she used it, after five seconds, she would always be teleported back to her original location, no matter what. She could get to the fight faster than anyone, but she couldn't stay there.

Fortunately, their years at the academy had taught Winter enough to use the time Ana was there hammering and distracting their opponents to get to the field herself. In turn, she would hold the enemy off until her old teammate could join the battle permanently. Thus, by the time Specialist Tremaine had flashed by to her starting location, Specialist Schnee had already glided through on a line of glyphs and finished off the paladin her friend had just crippled.

That left Winter with five paladins to handle, or at least keep distracted so they wouldn't target the cowering mob of civilians they had surrounded. Not an easy task even for her. The new model paladins were meant to be more than a match for the average huntsman, and even though Winter herself was far above that level, she still only she could comfortably manage three or four at a time. And with the knights, Grimm, and White Fang hammering her allies, there was no guarantee even Ana would find an opening to assist her.

No matter. She was a specialist and a huntress. If she died to this damned treachery, she'd at least make sure these machines would hurt no one else.

The paladins' miniguns all locked on to her and blurred to life a buzzsaw. A pale white glyph glowed beneath the specialist and Winter shot into the air, quickly spawning another pair of the sigils at the tips of her blades. Two snow-white Beowolves spawned from the symbols and fell upon a paladin each. They wouldn't be able to beat the machines, but they'd keep them off her for a bit.

Winter flipped over in midair and kicked her legs towards the sky, a glyph beneath, or rather above, her feet. She bent her knees and launched herself towards the farthest paladin, streaking right between its legs. The other paladins of the trio not beset by her Beowolves paused in their barrage, their friendly fire prevention programs apparently still classifying each other as allies. It would only take a second or two for them to determine a new attack vector, the one she'd gotten under and behind was already rotating its upper body to face her down, but a second or two was all she needed. Especially when she could stretch it even longer.

A glyph with a clock face spawned beneath her feet, the time dilation speeding up both her perception of the world around her and her body's reaction to it. In the space of the meager second available to her, she'd already delivered two dozen slashes to the robot's vulnerable joints. The war machine toppled over, a few tiny summoned Nevermores flying into the new cracks in the armor to shred the interior systems, a series of sparks flashing across the exterior before it exploded.

One down. Four to go… and the Beowolves were dead… and those paladins were turning towards her.

Just wonderful.

The fallen paladin's form would shield her for a moment, but then the others would switch to heavy weapons and blow her away with missiles. And while she was confident that she could dodge such ordnance, and perhaps even turn it against her mechanical foes, the shrapnel would most certainly risk the civilians she was guarding.

No, she needed to keep on the assault, keep their threat assessment locked on her. Whatever virus had infected them seemed to leave their automated functionality the same, so they would target whatever was attacking them unless given direct orders otherwise. And since whatever fiend that was behind this horror seemed too focused on chaos more than any direct assault, that meant she needed to keep fighting to keep those she needed to protect safe. Though, at this point, she didn't know how much longer she could keep going alone—

" **Ice God Bellow!** "

Winter immediately leapt back, a wave of brittle cold suddenly washing over her skin. A moment later, a wave of black ice surged down the center of the plaza and slammed into the four remaining paladins, the war machines swept forward and crushed under the titanic frozen weight.

Ana teleported to Winter's side, her mouth agape. "What the hell was that?"

Winter had a theory, but it wasn't confirmed until she whirled around to the entrance of the plaza, a wide grin spreading across her face. "My sister."

Indeed, Weiss, at the head of a menagerie of fighters from the tournament, charged into the fray, shooting across glyphs as Myrtenaster sliced apart knights and Grimm.

Ana's eyes widened as she glanced between Weiss and the wall of black ice that had remained after crushing the paladins. "That's your little sister? Seriously? I haven't seen anyone do something like that since—"

Her semblance teleported her back to where she'd come from before she could finish, the rush of battle forcing her to concentrate more on saving herself.

Which might have been for the best, since Weiss arrived at Winter's side a moment later, engulfing her in a tight hug, students surging all around them to engage their foes.

"You're okay!" she cheered. "I mean, of course you're okay. You're you, you can handle—"

"Weiss!" Winter shouted, pulling away and slashing a Creeper that had been going for her sister's back. "Not the time."

"Oh, right."

The sisters pulled away and dashed in front of the civilians cowering in the face of the carnage around them. The students were welcome reinforcements, but even with their arrival, the sheer numbers of their foes did not bode well for their chances, their swords flying just to keep up. For every Grimm they slew, three more would take their place. For every knight they dismantled, five more rust buckets would seemingly appear out of nowhere.

No wonder Qrow loved taking apart her escorts. They were infuriating to fight.

"So, any idea why the knights are trying to kill us?" Weiss inquired as Myrtenaster speared a robot's head.

"None," Winter replied, slicing three Beowolves apart. "Thank you for the save. I don't suppose you'll be able to pull off more of that?"

Weiss shook her head. "I can, but with everyone mixed in, I can't take them out with one big shot. I could do multiple precise strike, but I can't recharge my ethernano enough to do as many as I'd need. Unless you have some ice cubes on you?"

Winter cocked an eyebrow and poked her head towards the black wall beside them. "Is that not enough?"

"A slayer can't eat anything they produce."

Winter frowned. "Inconveniencing. I'm not sure how long we'll be able to hold out against this without something of that power."

Surprisingly, Weiss smirked. "This division of knights is controlled from the general's flagship, right?"

"Yes."

"Then we only have to hold out a little longer. Ruby will figure something—ouch!"

"Weiss!" Winter whirled around, terrified her baby sister had lapsed in her form and had had her throat ripped out by a vicious Grimm.

Instead, she found her tugging at her jacket, the tape beneath pulling at her skin.

"Goddamnit, not now!"

Despite the desperate situation they were stuck in, Winter couldn't help but sigh. It seemed they would have to save Beacon and Weiss' dignity. That tape would only last so long.

But Ruby Rose was a wizard, wasn't she, as well as Qrow' niece and protégé? She must have been competent. Yes, Weiss would not have put such faith in her if she was truly just the overexcitable child she appeared to be.

* * *

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" _I need guns."_

"… _pardon?"_

 _Ruby sighed. Across from her in the guildhall's lower level, sat Bisca and Alzack Connell, wearing their awesome cowboy hat and poncho outfits (seriously, why did these things exist in this dimension when Vacuo didn't?). Currently, they were both looking at Ruby as if she'd grown a second head, their daughter Asuka smiling between them._

" _I need guns," the red hooded huntress repeated. "Erza said you guys were the guild's gun magic experts. Side note, how awesome is it that 'gun magic' is a thing? But I figured that meant you guys would know where I can get some guns."_

" _No, we got that part," Bisca assured her. "But, why do you want guns? Erza said you used Spirit Slayer Magic."_

" _Eh," Ruby shrugged. "More like, it's stuck in my eyes and I don't know how to get it out. Besides, Requip is so much cooler than some stupid eye beams that get me and my friends stuck in another dimension. I can use every weapon I can get my hands on! And right now, I need some more guns."_

" _More guns?" Alzack asked. "I thought you used a scythe. And swords."_

 _Ruby spawned her signature weapon into her hand and transformed it into its alternate form. "It's also a gun."_

 _Asuka's eyes sparkled. "Cool! It's a scythe and a gun!"_

 _Ruby blushed and preened. "Oh, why thank you. I made her myself, and she's absolutely perfect." She squished her baby into a tight hug. No matter how many weapons she got for her requip (and she planned to get a great many), there was always going to be something special about the one she'd made with her own two hands._

" _It sure looks great. You might be almost half as good a shot as mama with it."_

" _I know, I know, but you should really see me—wait," Ruby whirled on the little girl. "Almost? Half? I'm a great shot!"_

" _She's not saying you're not," Alzack quickly cut in. "I'm sure you're an incredible shot, Ruby."_

" _Yeah, just not as good as mama."_

" _Asuka!"_

" _What? It's true. Mama is the best. She's even better than you, papa."_

" _I use pistols and she uses rifles, it's two different types of shooting. Bisca, please help?"_

 _The green-haired wizard shrugged and engulfed her daughter in a hug. "Not much I can do, Al. The little girl is right after all. Aren't you baby, oh yes you are, yes you are."_

" _Mama!"_

 _As someone who idolized her own warrior woman mother, part of Ruby could appreciate Asuka's blind hero worship. However, that part was vastly overshadowed by her indignation at the very idea that her baby, and by extension her wielding her baby, was not the greatest long-range combatant of all time._

 _She glared at Bisca, who playfully answered her stare for stare. "We'll schedule a match to settle things."_

" _Agreed," Ruby nodded. "Now, about my guns. I need some that are big enough to mount on my team's float for the parade."_

" _Why are you putting guns on a float?"_

" _Why wouldn't you?"_

 _Bisca opened her mouth to respond, before shutting it again. She looked to Alzack. "You want to field this one, honey?"_

" _Are you sure I should? I don't want Erza coming down on me for giving cannons to a fifteen-year-old."_

 _Bisca pointed to Crescent Rose. "If she can handle that, Erza won't mind."_

" _Fair point," Alzack turned towards Ruby. "How do feel about cannons?"_

 _Ruby grinned. She loved cannons._

* * *

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Ruby decided she hated Neopolitan.

No matter how fast she swung or how quickly she moved, the stupid little ice cream imp always weaved just out of the way. And whenever she did move fast enough to score a blow, her target immediately shattered into glass shards, revealed to be just an illusion. Then she had to rush to a new position before her real opponent shoved an umbrella knife in her back.

It was like fighting Uncle Qrow or Erza, except with her not being able to trust her eyes and having a much smaller target. Hell, Neo seemed to be playing with her, trying to wear her down bit by bit or stall her until—

"Little Red, Little Red…"

Aw crud.

She dove to the side just as the fire dust shot flashed over her shoulder. It smashed into Neo, exploding in a surge of flames, but Ruby caught the bits of glass tumbling out of the edge of the blaze. When she saw the shorter criminal grinning before her, her hunch was confirmed. The umbrella was jabbed out at the huntress, a knife extending from the tip towards her face. If Ruby was who she was before Earthland, she probably would have lost an eye.

Fortunately, she was not.

She activated her semblance and burst into rose petals, rushing around Neo's sword and reforming behind her back, Crescent Rose raised for a decisive strike as the mute criminal's eyes actually widened in surprise.

Unfortunately, another fire blast stuck her before her scythe could fall. Ruby was sent careening through the sky, the sheer wind and the motion of the ship throwing her off into the sky. She would have been stuck in the swarm of Griffons, but she managed to flip Crescent Rose around and rapidly fire off a few rounds, the recoil allowing her to get back onto the battleship. She stuck her scythe blade into the steel, tying her to the roof.

Roman Torchwick, fiend that he was, swaggered towards her, twirling his cane as he went. "You are just determined to be the hero of Vale, aren't you?"

"What are you doing?" she screamed at him. "Without these ships, the Grimm will destroy everything!"

Both Roman and Neo smirked. "That's the plan."

Neo dove for Ruby, but the huntress managed to roll out of the way only to have to use her semblance to dodge another fire blast from Torchwick's cane.

At that point, she thought she'd gotten a good handle on her opponents' strategy. Neo would get in close and badger their target, wearing down their strength and creating openings for Roman to exploit from long range, with her semblance providing protection from both her foes and any errant shots from him. It was simple, but Erza had always said a simple strategy employed well would sweep aside more complex plans almost every time. And the criminals' teamwork certainly showed they were well-practiced at fighting together.

She needed to upset their rhythm, distract them so she could recollect herself and come up with a plan. She needed to take down the battleship so the other Atlas forces could take back control of the skies. She wasn't sure if Fairy Glitter could target the entire ship and her breath attack would leave her open to Neo, so that left her with only one card powerful enough to play to destroy the bridge.

Fortunately, this was one of the few times where she thought Erza's advice might have been a bit off. After all, Torchwick loved to hear himself talk.

"But why?" she screeched. "What do _you_ get out of it?"

"Oh, Red," Torchwick scowled, pointedly _not_ shooting at her. "It's not what I have to gain. It's what I can't afford to lose."

Ruby started to prepare her magic to summon the weapon she needed, but Neo was not as easily distracted as her boss. The criminal stopped ducking and weaving, and went on the attack, her umbrella sword lunging forward with stab after stab. If her dainty, quick style wasn't somewhat similar to Weiss' technique with Myrtenaster, Ruby would never have been able to counter the vicious assault.

"I may be a gambling man, but even I know there are some bets you just don't take," Torchwick monologued, grinning at Neo's onslaught like it was his favorite tv show. "Like it or not, the people who hired me are going to change the world. You can't stop them. I can't stop them. You know the old saying, if you can't beat them—"

"Kill thousands of people for them!" Ruby grunted back, hissing as sparks hissed across her scythe's shaft. "Why would you ever do that?"

Roman growled, gripping his cane tight. "You know, if there was one upside to my recent prison stay, it was that I could actually pretend that you'd _grow up_ a bit while I was away. But no. You're still the same old naïve little dog, with the same old naïve little tricks."

He raised his cane and Neo made her real move. Wrapping the curved hilt of her umbrella around Crescent Rose's shaft, she tugged the weapon to the side and out of the way, Roman firing his shot at Ruby's now wide-open body. Before Fairy Tail, the huntress would have had to either take the direct shot or let go of her weapon so she could dodge.

Of course, since Ruby was a Fairy Tail wizard now, she had more options than that.

" _Requip!_ " the huntress shouted, light engulfing her as soon as she said the words. Neo stumbled away as Crescent Rose was suddenly no longer present to anchor her.

When the light faded, Roman's fire blast crashed into a shining circular shield and shattered into nothingness against its pristine silver surface.

Tulip's Aegis, a three-foot diameter shield Ruby had built based off Pyrrha's Akouo and Erza's Adamantine Armor. Ruby hadn't really understood why her mentor had demanded she create some defense during her forge spree, but she was certainly grateful she'd made her listen. She hadn't been able to work in the same ultimate defense magic from the Fairy Queen's armor, but what she had managed to copy still made it tougher than most shields.

She grinned as Roman's jaw dropped.

"I have learned a few new tricks." She quipped.

Neo's playful veneer broke as she scowled, diving to stab under the huntress' guard. She probably thought that even if Ruby could conjure Crescent Rose like she had Tulip's Aegis, she couldn't effectively wield the scythe in one hand at such close range. And she was right.

But Ruby was no longer restricted to only one weapon.

Waxing Petal flashed into her opposite hand and came down to force the bladed umbrella aside. Drawing on only enough of her semblance for super speed, Ruby rammed into Neo's head with Tulip's Aegis, her shield bash apparently not striking an illusion as the short criminal went tumbling across the deck, her aura crackling with strain.

"Neo!" Roman roared, rushing forward to check on his partner, genuine concern on his face as he examined the dazed woman. After she nodded at him, he rose, glaring at Ruby with utter loathing.

Ruby glared back at him herself, her silver eyes narrowed in disgust. "I don't care what you say. People are dying down there. Whoever's behind it, whoever hired you, I will stop them, and I will stop you. Bet on that!"

Maybe it was her continued optimism, maybe it was her hurting his friend, maybe it was the fact that she hadn't died after he'd said his cool one-liner, but her words threw Roman into a rage. He marched in front of Neo and raised his cane, unleashing fire blast after fire blast.

"You've got spirit, Red! But this is the real world! The real world doesn't care about spirit!" he ranted as he stomped towards her, further incensed as her shield deflected his every shot. "You want to be a hero? Then play the part and _die_ like every other huntsman in history!"

He'd made it into close range at that point and began hammering her with his cane. Ruby flinched under the onslaught, but more from his words than his blow. She knew better than most just how high the mortality rate among huntsmen was. And just what it did to the ones they left behind.

But more than that, something about Torchwick's words seemed familiar. His cynicism, his fury, his insistence that the world was a dark and cruel and terrible place, it reminded Ruby of, of all people, Blake. Someone who tried to do good and found that their faith was not rewarded. Only instead of pressing on trying to do good as her teammate did, the master thief had drowned himself in the world he saw, embracing the negativity with everything he had… wait, negativity?

It was only then that Ruby noticed that the swarm of Griffons were getting closer and closer to the ship.

"Torchwick!" she squealed. "Calm down! You're attracting—"

"As for me, I'll do what I do best!" he shouted over her, lost in his rage. "Lie! Steal! Cheat! And survive—"

She saw the Grimm before he did. The Griffon came down from the air right behind him and its maw closed around his entire body at once.

Neo's eyes widened with horror as she saw her partner consumed. Fortunately, this meant she wasn't going to attack Ruby while she tried to save him.

The edges of her vision clouded with white mist as she was sure silver light began to shine from her eyes. She sucked in a deep breath as magic gathered in her throat, the instinctual defense of any spirit disturbed by unwitting forces, powerful enough to terrify all but the sternest of souls.

" **Silver Spirit Wail!** "

A rush of bright silver energy surged from Ruby's mouth and tore right through the Griffon, the creature of darkness disintegrating into dust the moment the light struck, the remaining length of the blast blazing into the sky, any Grimm it even grazed plummeting from the sky. The rest of the demons fled from the glow in a mad frenzy.

That caused Ruby to quirk an eyebrow as the glow faded from her eyes. She supposed it did make some sense. Blake had absorbed a Grimm, so that on its own meant they were some kind of spirit. Ruby's eyes would cut through all but the most powerful of them like carving a cake.

But still, the Grimm didn't feel like spirits, even if they felt like some sort of inverse of Celestial Spirits. And if they were, why were they in their world? Between them, the ethernano, the elementalist, and the book, Ruby really started to wonder just how much Earthland magic was on Remnant.

A deep thud resonated from the ship to draw her from her thoughts. She glanced towards Neo, the short girl picking over a figure coated in a thin layer of grey dust. A bit of dusting off revealed Torchwick coughing off the ash.

Huh. Grimm didn't digest things immediately. Who knew?

The criminal coughed several more times before struggling to his knees.

"You… saved me?" he muttered.

"Yeah," she replied. "I did. It's what I do."

"You sap."

Ruby felt the tinge in the back of her aura as soon as the words left his lips, a sharp prick straining against the energy of her soul, trying to run her through. She triggered her semblance immediately, dispersing into rose petals and rushing a few feet behind her. When she reformed, she kicked out at what seemed to be empty air.

The real Neo flipped away from her strike back to Roman, her double shattering into nothingness a second later.

Ruby landed back to the deck and sighed.

"Oh, what did you expect, Red?" Roman replied, Neo helping him to his feet.

Ruby shrugged. "From you? Nothing. From me? Nothing less."

Fairy Tail did not kill, and they did not let people die. However, just because an enemy today _could_ become a friend tomorrow didn't mean they _would_ , a fact Erza had not tried to hide from her.

But there was always the chance they would. Which meant she would always do her very best to give it to them. Whatever the consequences, that was her choice.

Predictably, Torchwick looked more confused than anything appreciative. "I thought you were just idealistic but… you're insane. Saving me doesn't mean you can stop them. It doesn't help any of those pretty little people and puppies below you're fighting for. And I'm certainly not going to help you when my neck is still on the line."

"I don't need you to help me," Ruby declared, the light of her requip flaring around her body and dissipating her weapons. "But you really should get out of my way."

When the light faded, Full Magnolia was at her command. Two 30mm autocannons, one in each arm, belt-fed anti-fortification magic shells from a pair of massive ammunition boxes adorned on her back. Alzack had planned for her to mount them on her team's float, but with aura enhancing her strength, Ruby proved able to wield them herself, if only for a short time. On the side of one of the ammo tubs was her crimson rose emblem, while the other showed the symbol of Fairy Tail.

Torchwick and Neo's eyes widened. "Holy shit."

Ruby's eyes glowed silver, the magic seeping into her cannon barrels. "Like I said, _get out of my way_."

Neo quickly tugged Roman aside, dashing for the open air. Surprisingly, Torchwick resisted for a moment.

"Cinder Fall," he called out. "That's the person who hired me. Figure it'd be better for you to point those things at her next than me."

Cinder? Emerald and Mercury's team leader? Why would a student want to do something like this? Though, even though Ruby hadn't spoken to her often, what vague recollection she did have of her voice was similar to the one from the Black Queen's speech. There was no way to know if Torchwick was lying or not, but it was the only lead she had to find Penny's killer.

Torchwick and Neo leapt into the air, the latter opening her umbrella to guide them through the air.

With that, Ruby had a clear shot at the airship's bridge. Power rushed into her cannons, seeping through the shells and charging the lacrima within. She was never able to master her Slayer powers like her teammates or their mentors, but that had just made her eager to find other uses for the well of power within her eyes, namely combining it with the other tricks she'd picked up along the way.

" **Gun Magic- Argentum Salvo!** "

A dozen bolts of silver energy erupted out of Full Magnolia, splitting the sky like a crack of thunder. They rammed straight through the battleship's bridge and tore its engines completely asunder. Scraps of torn molten metal cascaded through the air as the rear of the cruiser ignited in a massive fireball, the ship instantly plummeting from the sky.

Her job done and actual Atlas airships visibly ascending into the night sky to battle the swarm of Griffons, Ruby switched out her cannons for her trusted scythe, a far less draining weapon on her body, letting out a heavy sigh as the titanic weight left her body. She leapt from the falling, flaming wreck and into the open air, firing Crescent Rose repeatedly to control her descent back to Beacon.

She needed to find Cinder Fall and find out how much she was really involved in this. And if she was behind it like Torchwick said, then she was going to learn exactly what happened when you messed with a Fairy Tail wizard's friends.

* * *

 **If you have trouble visualizing Full Magnolia, just think of Seras Victoria's cannons from Hellsing Ultimate. Of course, Ruby is hardly as strong as a vampire, so they aren't practical as a main weapon. Special thanks to cyberlord4444 for the idea and name!**

 **An extra huge thank you to my patrons: ArcherMcMuffin, Gregg Tracton, Keith Traction, StabKingPro, Annaya Chan, Nora Okonus, and Paula mandel.**

 **Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!**

 **Go Forth and Conquer!**


	11. Chapter 10

**If you wish to support me and my college tuition, please check out my P a treon for future chapter summaries, story ideas and more: p a Treon.(c om) (backslash) themaster4444**

 **Beta-ed by xenosaiyan**

* * *

As a matter of principle, Yang was not a fan of Grimm and White Fang invading her school. She'd been practicing her _Ultimate Ninja Master 4_ (she was going to kick Uncle Qrow's butt the next time they played) when the sirens had gone off. She'd leapt to her window and gazed in horror as White Fang bullheads landed throughout the campus and deposited hordes of Grimm and their own troops onto the grounds, instantly attacking every student or visitor they could find. Her eyes had instantly flared red, her rage only increasing when her attempts to call up Ruby and the others went unanswered.

It was only after she'd dashed out into the chaos that she'd noticed the silver lining. Swarms of bad guys and hell beasts were coming after her and her friends, merrily setting everything they could on fire as they went. Which meant she had lots of blowhards to beat up who definitely had it coming and plenty of fuel to do thrash them with. She wasn't a fan of innocent people being in danger, but there was certainly something of a bright side when she got to burn the assholes causing the danger to a crisp.

And that was certainly something she specialized in, even before Fairy Tail. Down every hall that she'd once dashed late to class, she punched dozens of White Fang goons through walls. When she'd leapt out into the courtyard, she'd fired shotgun shell after shotgun shell into Grimm skulls. And when the nearby Atlesian Knights had their faceplates turn red and trained their rifles on her, she'd unleashed a torrent of pink flames and melted them to slag.

She was a Fairy Tail wizard. It would take more than half-trained terrorists, bargain bin robots, and run of the mill forest Grimm to make her break a sweat.

Still, as much fun as roasting her enemies was, she had to find the others. Ruby's eyes would keep her well supplied, but Weiss would hardly find as much ice scattered around the campus as Yang had fire. And Blake barely had any of Loke's power to draw from even with sufficient ethernano. She'd only have her martial skills to draw upon soon enough and as skilled as her partner was, that strength would only go so far in the current chaos.

That meant it would be best to link up with the cat faunus first. Weiss had seemed to become stationary at the courtyard and Ruby… was falling from the sky? Eh, hardly the craziest thing her sister had ever done. Wasn't even in the top ten of the craziest things Blake had ever done.

Even so, it was probably best she tracked her down before she added a few more to the list. She could already feel her partner's meager magical signature waylaid at the cafeteria, probably having attempted to meet up with her.

Yang rushed toward the raging blaze of the mess hall, though even as she ran, she had to wonder. What could possibly have been delaying Blake so much?

* * *

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Blake had been a terrorist for half her life, fought dark wizards and demons, and traveled between worlds. Yet, standing before the person she saw now, the bloody bodies of half a dozen Atlas students fresh at his feet, she had never been more terrified.

"Adam," she whispered.

Her old teacher and partner let out a wide grin at her, the curve of his pearly white teeth matching the sharp cutting edge of his crimson sword. "Hello, my darling."

It might have been strange, but after six months in the supportive and caring arms of Fairy Tail, Blake's guilt over the White Fang had begun to… not fade, but seem less overpowering than it was before. After all, everything she'd done had been a literal world away, and everything about her new environment had emphasized moving forward, striding onward from your mistakes on the eternal adventure.

But now, with her former comrades laying waste to the new life she'd tried to build for herself, everything came crashing back down, all the guilt, all the pain, all the powerlessness. And Adam, the noble freedom fighter she'd once believed in above all others, loved above all others, stood before her, the beast he'd become wreathed in fiery shadows.

Her body wouldn't stop shaking, and before she knew it, she was already taking a step back.

"Running away again?" Adam called out, freezing her in her tracks. "Is that what you've become, my love? A coward?"

Blake curled her fists, forcing herself to step forward into the burning cafeteria. "Why are you doing this?"

"You and I were going to change the world, remember?" her former teacher yelled. "We were destined to light the fires of revolution!" He gestured his blade to the broken corpses at his feet. "Consider this the spark."

Blake's eyes narrowed. She raised Gambol Shroud into a ready position. "I'm not running."

When she'd first seen Adam slipping, she'd expressed concern, but let him talk her out of her worry. When she'd witnessed his bloodlust grow, she'd fled to Beacon to start over. She hadn't even turned over any of her information on the White Fang to the police or Ozpin. She'd just enrolled as a huntress and claimed she was trying to make the world a better place, without any actual commitment on how she would do that.

No more. Erza had told her she could not die for her atonement, so she would live for it, solving one problem at a time.

Adam seemed like a good place to start.

The bull faunus raised Wilt at her throat. "You will."

He charged, a guttural howl roaring from his throat.

Blake raised her sword and caught his opening flurry of strikes, but she wasn't a fool. She had fought side by side with Adam for years, she knew she wasn't on his level. Whatever refining she done to her style at Beacon and in the field, he had taught her everything that formed the foundation of her technique. Physically, he was more experienced, stronger than her by far, and fast enough to keep up despite her shadow clones. One on one, he was the superior fighter in every regard.

However, as Erza had observed during their first spar with Natsu all those months ago, the thing that truly set a wizard apart from a huntress was not physical ability, but destructive capability.

She didn't have much of Loke's power left, but she should still have enough for one last blast. If she timed it right, she could shatter Adam's aura and leave him wide open. She had to. Because if she couldn't stop him here, who knew who else he'd go on to hurt.

Gambol Shroud lanced out, on course to pull Wilt out of the way so her trump card to put Adam down. Just as it had at Amity, magic rushed out from her origin, golden light coalescing around her left arm. A shining ghostly lion claw manifested around her hand, pulled back for a decisive strike.

" **Regulus Claw!** "

Her fist streaked forward, incased in a golden palm, ready to obliterate the monster she'd failed to keep a man. With this blow, she would end his madness.

With this blow, she would take the first step towards real redemption.

A gunshot rattled her focus, Gambol Shroud suddenly knocked out of position. Blake's eyes widened, catching sight of Blush in its shotgun form, a smoke rising from the front of the barrel. With her sword knocked out of position, that left her opponent's free to be used as he wished. Along with his semblance.

Adam pulled Wilt into the path of her attack and Regulus Claw smashed into the flat of the crimson blade. For a moment, a brilliant, blinding light erupted from the point of impact, its shine overwhelming even the glow of the flames around them. And then, a raging red taint tinged the blaze and sucked it into the curved sword.

With a mighty heave, Blake was sent flying. Her back smashed into the crumbling wall, her body leaving a craggy indent in the stone as she fell to her knees.

Adam stowed his sheath at his side, her hand rising to tightly grip his sword hand's wrist. A soft glow slowly faded from Wilt's edge.

"She mentioned you might have a new trick or two," he scowled, flicking his blade out. "But no matter how powerful you think you've become; I know you, Blake. Everything you are, everything you claim to fight for, everything you turned your back on, I've watched you since the beginning of it all. I taught it to you. There is no way for you to beat me. Because all you are is a coward, unwilling to do what must be done."

Blake struggled back to her feet, her mind desperately working through its utter terror to analyze Adam's words. "She? The woman who made the speech, the Black Queen? You… you're working for her. Just like Torchwick. This isn't about the faunus, it's about you doing her dirty work!"

"I'm using her!" Adam roared back, stalking towards the huntress. "Look around you! We're not rats scurrying about taking trains anymore! This is revolution, a justice that cannot be ignored! I will wield her and her master's power and use them to create the new world we always dreamed of!"

He rushed forward, his blade baying for blood. Blake barely raised Gambol Shroud in time to block, desperately rolling away to avoid being cornered against the wall. She managed to escape but only with a shadow clone and her old partner was on her immediately after.

She was doomed. With her magic absorbed, Adam's semblance was perhaps more charged than it ever had been. The only reason he hadn't used it already was that he knew he had to whittle down her aura first, keep her from using a shadow clone to escape the damage. Even still, he hammered into her, an endless cascade of crushing blows raining down, smashing her sword aside with every strike. Her bones rattled whenever she blocked head-on, his momentum crashing through her meager attempts to riposte.

Eventually, he'd completely overpower her, or she'd run out of stamina. Either way, she had no more of Loke's magic, she had no way to break through his guard, not unless she used…

No. She didn't fully understand what had rushed through her when she'd absorbed the Griffon on Amity, but it was nothing good. When she'd taken power from Loke, it'd been a rush, a thunderbolt crashing through her veins and lighting her entire being on fire. When she'd taken in the Grimm, it felt like a stream of black oil had slicked down her spine, like utter darkness and revulsion had rippled through her entire being. She'd barely been able to contain it.

If she unleashed, tried to use it, she had no idea what could happen. Perhaps she'd gain the power to defeat Adam, but there was no way to tell if _she_ would be the one in control. Or if anyone could stop the monster that could emerge. If the others fought smart, she had full confidence that they could defeat Adam. But against whatever power she would gain, with them no doubt holding back so as to not risk her, there was no guarantee that they would not meet their ends.

What could she do? Die at the hands of her former friend, or fight back in earnest and risk her current ones?

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" _Please, no more! No mor-rermemrem!"_

 _Blake's voice was muddled as Mira stuffed a ball gag in her mouth, tying the strap tight around the back of her head and the giant pillow pressed into her hair there._

" _Your friends want to go on a job after the Fantasia Parade. If you want to go with them, you'll have to make more progress," Mira said, patting her student on the head. "I gave you a few days off to help your team with the float and to read 'Raiders & Maidens', but now we need to make up for lost time."_

 _Loke, standing off to the side, cringed. "Uh, I think she gets that, Mira. But, don't you think you're taking this a bit far?"_

 _Blake, her voice still stymied, frantically nodded. As of current, she was completely strapped into bondage gear, her legs together and fully bent, and her arms bound behind her back. And within each of the loops of her bindings were pillows, pressing into every inch of her flesh. There was even a pair pinned to both the top of her head and the underside of her throat by a chin strap. The feather bags might have kept the leather bounds from tearing into her skin, but the near suffocation was hardly a favorable situation either._

 _Mira quirked an eyebrow. "What do you mean? This is only level one. I passed this when I was eight. I'm sure Blake can manage it."_

" _True, but you're also a monster among monsters," Loke pointed out. "Blake has only had magic for a few weeks. Maybe you should start her at a lower level?"_

" _A level lower than one? What, like zero?"_

 _Blake immediately nodded. Level zero sounded like a fantastic place to start._

" _Nah," Mira waved off. "She can handle it. She just needs the right motivation."_

" _She needs to power up to get home," Loke replied. "What greater motivation could there be?"_

" _Hmm… you're right." That actually got Mira to frown pensively for a moment, However, it lasted only a second before her bubbly smile returned. "But that's so far off! She needs something more immediate to aim for."_

 _Blake cocked an eyebrow. Such as?_

 _Mira smirked at her. "How about this, Blake? If you can complete this level, I'll get you the next 'Raiders and Maidens' book."_

 _Blake's and Loke's eyes widened. "But that's not supposed to come out for another two months!"_

" _I have a friend at Sorcerer Weekly whose uncle is the head of the publishing company," Mira explained. "I modeled for the original cover back before Tenrou and now he makes sure to get me every book in the series as soon as its finished. So, if you want to know what the maiden does with her captives now that she's a warlord, all you need to do is—"_

" _Um'll doit! Um'll doit," Blake squealed, hoping her frantic nods would make up for her muffled speech. She had to know about the maiden's new… policy changes. Yeah, policy changes._

" _Excellent!" Mira cheered. She grabbed Loke's wrist and dragged him forward. His hand reached out and brushed Blake's forehead._

 _Clenching her eyes shut in concentration, she focused on the subtle glimmer of Loke's power, consciously scraping it into her bit by bit, careful not to nearly absorb him all at once like she had when they'd first met. She must have done an okay job of it, since she didn't get any memories from him this time._

 _Eventually, she felt the Lion Spirit pull away, but by that point she had taken a sizable portion of his magic for her own. It shimmered within her, a blazing torch that raged and crackled against the lamp she'd confined it in._

" _Concentrate," Mira's calm, caring voice rang out. "The one thing all Take-Over magic has in common is that it is power not meant to wielded by a human. The souls you absorb will want out. And since their original bodies are gone, they will warp your body to better suit them, even if their minds no longer exist enough to control the new form. Harnessing that event is the key to your magic. These bindings will act as a measure for you. If you don't allow enough of the power out, you won't be able to harness it for combat and the pillows will keep pressing into you. Too much, and you'll lose control of yourself and the bindings will snap completely. But keep your mind clear and focused and you'll be able to bring out all the strength of the souls within you to help your team. Try pushing back on the pillows just as much as they're pushing back on you. Equilibrium is the key, your mind and Loke's power."_

 _Blake took a deep breath, magic flowing out of her origin and mixing with the Celestial Spirit power within her. Even if it wasn't whole and given to her freely, to bask in the radiance of Leo's power, of Regulus, was blistering. Her mind felt as if she'd stepped out into the hottest desert on Menagerie unprotected, the sun scorching her flesh with blistering light and heat. If she basked in it for too long, it would cook her alive._

 _But she couldn't afford to let that happen. In the darkness of her mind, she imagined the massive sun shrink to the size of a small baseball. Her brow furrowed as the power obeyed her will, her hands rising to cover the blazing orb, to contain its power. To command it._

 _Slowly, she felt the pillows push away from her._

" _Yes, yes, yes!" Mira cheered. "You're doing it, Blake! You're doing it!"_

" _Nice job!" Loke complimented. "I can give you some tips on how to best use Regulus later. That is, if she's passed level one."_

" _Oh, she'll still need to keep practicing this a while," Mira revealed. "It's one of the most basic steps of Take-Over, but it gets harder the more beings you absorb as well as the stronger they are. And if you mess up… well… there's a reason it took Elfman so long to master a Full-Body transformation."_

 _Blake ceased her magic, taking a moment to catch her breath as sweat trickled down her brow. She was making progress, but she couldn't push too fast. She had to catch up to her friends so she could help them all get home, but she couldn't risk going berserk. They had enough stacked against them without putting her against them._

 _She'd master her magic. She'd master her magic and help them all get home._

" _So, Blake, do you want the regular version of the book, or the collector's edition. I hear Jenny did some great stills for that one."_

 _The cat faunus grinned around the ball gag in her mouth. Of course, there were other benefits._

" _We can move on to level two after that."_

 _Her grin fell. And then there were other tortures._

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Blake crashed into a pile of rubble, her aura crackling a purple hue as it broke. She sank to her knees, Gambol Shroud barely gripped beneath her fingers.

"This could have been our day!" Adam raged as he stomped towards her. "Can't you see that?"

"I never wanted _this_!" Blake screamed back, frantically changing her weapon to its gun form. "I wanted _equality_! I wanted _peace_!"

She fired off a rapid-fire barrage, but it was an act of desperation. Adam easily maneuvered Wilt into the path of all the bullets, the blade's already brilliant glow only increasing further.

"What you want is _impossible_!" he roared.

His hand lanced out smacked Blake to the ground, her weapon skidding away. Adam sheathed his sword and stalked towards her prone form.

"But I understand. Because all I want is you, Blake," he declared, his voice suddenly much softer but no less terrifying. He delivered a hard kick to her side and forced her on her back. "And as I set out upon this world and deliver the justice mankind so greatly deserves, I will make it my mission to destroy _everything_ you love."

"Blake! Blake, where are you?"

Despite the fact that it meant help was on the way, Blake's heart stopped the moment she heard Yang's voice. Her vision flew to where the shout had emanated from, her amber eyes widening as she saw her partner come around the corner, her fists flying as she took down assailant after assailant, all the while calling for her.

Adam saw her as well, a furious scowl marring his face. "Starting with her."

Wilt was instantly redrawn and stabbed straight into Blake's gut, agony bursting through the huntress' veins as a scream erupted from her mouth.

Yang whirled towards them, her eyes lighting crimson as Adam prepped his blade. A pink firestorm erupted behind her as she rocketed herself forward. "Get away from her!"

"No," Blake whispered, desperately fighting through the searing pain in her abdomen. "Please no."

She could see it happen in slow motion. Yang's fist was already gathering fire, her partner ready to blow her attacker away with one inferno of a punch and rescue her. But Adam had likely been charging his semblance throughout his entire invasion and would unleash all that stored up power in one single slash, the enormous amount of energy concentrated in a thin, viscerally sharp edge. Aura or not, it would cleave through Yang like a hot knife through butter.

He was going to kill her. At best, he was going to dismember her and then kill her. The monster she allowed to be born was going to kill her partner, kill her friend.

She couldn't that happen. She _wouldn't_ let that happen, damn the consequences!

Every ounce of magic in her origin rushed through her body like a flood that had just shattered a dam, carrying with it a surge of strength. She dived deep and summoned forth the only power her Take-Over could provide her.

But there was no warm sun like with Loke's magic. There was only a sea of shadows, surging through her, freezing cold yet blisteringly hot. Anger, fury, hatred like nothing she'd ever even imagined coursed through her mind, a sheer, indomitable instinct to _kill everything in sight_ flooding her senses.

She tried to keep herself focused, to direct the raging torrent of sheer negativity, but it was too much. Soon, Yang, Adam, and the flames disappeared from her sight, complete and utter darkness dominating her vision. The only sensation she could conceive was the oil slipping through her muscles, warping her body into something else, something horrible.

And in this midst of the blackness, she thought she heard a familiar voice whisper.

' _Blake? Is that you?'_

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He hurt her. He _stabbed_ her. Yang had no idea who the bull guy towering over Blake was, but she was going to make him burn.

At least, that had been the plan she'd leaped in with. But when she'd been in the midst of her charge, the bull faunus' sword raised and ready to be broken, a dark smog had suddenly erupted from Blake, blowing both her and their enemy back near the fire. She'd looked back to make sure her partner was okay, only for her jaw to drop.

"What the hell?" the bull faunus muttered, equally as stunned.

Where Blake had once laid dying now stood a Grimm unlike any Yang had ever seen before. It was humanoid in appearance but bulging with churning black muscle, standing a head taller than even the bull faunus' exceptional height. Giant feathery wings spread out from its back, its hands and feet bent and shivering as if restraining a primal power, razor-sharp talons covering both.

And its head… like most Grimm, a fearsome bone mask covered the top of its face, hiding its eyes and nose behind a piercing gaze of crimson eyes. But from its jaw extended some sort of beak, like a Nevermore or a Griffon, its tip sharpened so finely that it looked to be able to snap bone in two with ease. The demonic creature's head twitched side to side, its eyes wildly glancing about from flame to flame.

In any other situation, Yang would have already jumped in and started punching. There was no such thing as a friendly Grimm after all. But something about the creature before her felt different from the ones she had been fighting all her life. Not physically obviously, there wasn't any mistaking the beast in front of her for anything but a Grimm, but mystically it felt… familiar. She hadn't spent much time analyzing the beasts she'd been fighting since the invasion started, but she knew they were different than the one before her. They had felt sort of like… Lucy's spirits.

But if they were somehow similar to Celestial Spirits, and this one had appeared exactly where Blake had been, with her partner nowhere in sight… did she—oh gods!

The Grimm screeched, the demonic cacophony forcing Yang and the bull faunus to smack their hands over their ears. Even then, she was pretty sure it was only their aura that kept them from bleeding.

"Blake!" Yang shrieked. "Are you in there?!"

"Blake?" the bull faunus gasped, his masked face turning to the monster before them. "That's Blake?"

The beast's screech immediately halted, its blood-red eyes narrowing on the White Fang member. In a black blur faster than Yang could see, her partner slammed into the red-haired faunus and sent him flying out the shattered cafeteria window, following after like a savage animal hunting its prey.

"Oh, Blake. What have you gone and done this time?" Yang muttered worriedly. She raced out after her partner.

The courtyard outside the cafeteria was, like the rest of the school, in utter pandemonium. The cobblestones were shattered, the trees were aflame, and battle raged throughout. Scattered students who still had weapons desperately shielded their injured fellows from terrorists and Atlesian Knights, Grimm tearing everyone apart without distinction. Yang had to split her attention retaliating against some idiots who thought taking potshots at her was a good idea.

And at the center of it all, Blake, looking nothing like the calm, precise warrior she was. Her savage form ripped after the bull faunus, each swipe of her talons striking too fast for his sword to counter every attack, each blow that struck bashing him back several feet, the force of her feet tearing up the stone as she relentlessly charged after him.

It was incredible and terrifying. Her power and speed were like almost nothing Yang had ever seen, save Erza, Kyouka, and Sitara. She knew Take-Over increased the user's physical abilities, but Elfman certainly hadn't gotten this much of a boost from his beasts and Yang was certain a good chunk of them were stronger than whatever Grimm Blake had absorbed.

Except… Elfman didn't have aura.

A huntress' power was derived from the energy of their soul exponentially increasing their natural physical ability. All of which was only enough for most to equal the unenhanced strength of garden variety Grimm like Beowolves and Ursa, with weapons and semblances filling in the rest. But if Blake had added a Grimm's innate strength to her own baseline, and her aura was in turn amplifying that total… there was no telling how powerful she could become. If she got in close, nothing on Remnant could stop her.

But she'd been stabbed, didn't that mean she was out of aura? Had her magic restored it? Was it full again, or was she in the red? There was so much about this new state that they knew nothing about and Yang had a dreadful suspicion that they might not get the chance to find out.

"Adam!" one of the nearby White Fang grunts called out to the bull faunus, whose sword had just been knocked from his grip. The grunt called over his fellows and they turned their guns on the duel, a barrage pelting into Blake's side. Energy crackled over the huntress, but that just merely earned the terrorists her attention, instantly racing over and butchering her former comrades, her talons soon red with their blood.

Yang's eyes widened. None of Team RWBY had ever been completely against killing, they'd each been forced to slay plenty of terrorists trying to stop the Breach, but it was never something they particularly enjoyed. Their time will Fairy Tail only increased that inclination and Blake was always one who wanted to give the members of her former organization the chance to change like she did. For her to carve them apart so easily, there was no way she was in control.

The bull faunus, Adam, seized the brief moment his fellows had bought him, diving for his sword. He whirled around with his crimson blade, the katana glowing with a vibrant glow, just as Blake raced back to continue her massacre.

Yang's eyes widened as a truly gargantuan slash of energy erupted out of the sword, carving a massive trench in the ground as it stormed towards Blake. And then surged right through her.

"No!" the huntress screamed. She fired her gauntlets behind her and rocketed towards the panting bull faunus, pink flames blazing around her fists. " **Fire Devil Secret Art—** "

Before she could finish her shout, another roar split the air. Her eyes whirled to where Blake had been struck, only to see her friend's corrupted body dissipate into familiar black mist.

' _She can still use her shadow clones?!'_

The real Blake reappeared right in front of Adam. Her talon covered hand grasped him by the face and slammed him into the ground, shattering his aura and splitting his mask in two.

Normally, such a turn of events would have been great news. Her partner had escaped from near assured death and had decimated her assailant in her counterattack. There was just one problem.

Yang was already flying towards them and her spell was already too far along to stop.

She cut off her magic instantly and fired Ember Celica to stop her short, but it was too late. The moment she hit the ground, the blaze of her incomplete attack flew across the courtyard, blasting Blake, Adam and everything else nearby back several yards.

Adam smacked into a tree, blood flying from his mouth. Amazingly, the bastard still staggered back to his feet. His face gazed out into the courtyard, three long bloody slashes from Blake's talons streaking down vertically across his face, side by side with a brand of SDC burnt across his left eye. Slowly, he limped from the field of battle.

Yang didn't have time to chase him, a low snarl alerting her to the threat her attack had drawn to her.

Blake charged her, a blur of talons and black muscle. Yang was barely able to get her gauntlets up in time to block the first series of strikes, and even those had so much force behind them that the blond brawler found herself slowly but surely pushed back. Her partner's claws hammered into her aura again and again, her already weathered defenses steadily dropping under the relentless assault.

She needed to gain some distance. If worst came to worst, it would give her extra time fire off spells strong enough to upset Blake's physical advantage and beat her into submission, but hopefully it wouldn't come to that. She just needed to break her out of her current berserker rush and then bring her back to her senses.

" **Fire Devil's Twin Horn Rush!** "

Yang crouched low and swept her hands in front of her and then to the sides, the attack based off Natsu' Fire Dragon's Wing Attack. Pink flames followed her fists, the hellish blaze jutting out of her wrists like infernal spears. The last of the nearby Atlesian Knights were turned to slag as the few remaining students used the opportunity to escape and get away from the wizards' clash.

Unfortunately, the wings on Blake's back turned out to not be just for show. With a single instinctive flap, she retreated backward and flew into the air. It took her a few moments to stabilize herself, but after she did, she rained down a swarm of razor-sharp feathers upon Yang.

Fortunately, those few moments were all the time Yang needed.

" **Fire Devil's Rage!** "

The fire erupted out of Yang's mouth and burnt the feathers to ash, the rush of flames forcing Blake to reestablish herself in the sky. But by the time she had, even her Grimm eyes could not miss Yang's signal.

A gigantic flaming Fairy Tail emblem, blazing proudly even against the darkest oppression of the night.

"Listen to me, Blake!" Yang roared, holding up her right arm to show her yellow guildmark. "I don't know what's happened to you, but whatever it is, you're stronger than it. You beat the White Fang, you became a huntress, you've traveled worlds, and learned magic! You are a Fairy Tail wizard! You're my partner and my friend, and you are stronger than some Grimm! Fight it! Fight back so we can stop this crap!"

Blake's beaked head shuddered from side to side, her hands rising to clutch at the sides of her face. However, whether it was the fire, Yang's words, or even something within her fighting back against the power that sought to consume her, she slowly lowered herself to the ground.

Yang smiled, slowly walking towards her friend, holding out her hand as if she were a frightened animal. They could laugh about the mildly offensive comparison after everything had settled down—

"Yang!" Sun shouted, he and Neptune rounding the corner of the blazing cafeteria, blasting through a line of Beowolves and Ursa. "We saw the fire! Are you alright—"

"Look out!" Neptune yelled, raising his rifle towards Blake.

Yang's eyes widened. "Wait! It's not a Grimm—"

Too late. Neptune, his trigger finger trained by years of hard training, of understanding that if he saw a Grimm that close, he _could not hesitate_ or he, his teammates, and the innocents they protected would die. After all, there was no such thing as a friendly Grimm.

His volley of lightning dust shot right into Blake, her aura crackling black. Whatever semblance of calm she'd acquired immediately evaporated, her gaping maw opening to let out a savage roar.

Yang saw her partner's knees bunching, storing power for a charge at the pair of huntsmen. She acted instantly, activating her semblance and pouring all her little remaining aura and the strength she'd absorbed over the course of the battle, including from Blake herself, into one swift, brutal jab. If she could not calm her friend down, then she'd at least make sure she didn't hurt anyone in her madness. She loathed herself for the mistakes already on her shoulders.

Her punch landed with enough force and flame to crush two paladins at once. But as soon as it struck Blake's aura, the blow merely sank through black smoke. It took barely a moment for Yang to realize she'd merely slain a shadow clone.

But in that moment, the real thing had reappeared at her side. And in the next, her talons lashed out at Yang, cutting deep into her flesh and sending her flying backward. Sun and Neptune immediately charged forward, pulling her back and as much out of danger as was possible.

She wanted to speak, to explain that the situation was not as it seemed, but her mind was already clouded, her vision fading.

She wanted to reach out her hand, to pull them back and make them understand but… she couldn't seem to feel her right arm below the elbow.

She didn't have time to ponder why before she blacked out.

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"Yang!" Sun roared in panic, his friend's bloody and dismembered form flying backward.

Neptune let out a wordless yell and unleashed everything he had on the Grimm that had struck their friend. Sun had never seen anything like it, some kind of humanoid Griffon, but from how fast it had moved when it had attacked, not to mention that it had taken out Yang at all, they couldn't take any chances.

Where was Blake? Weiss had sent them with her to gather civilians and noncombatants to the courtyard, but she'd rushed ahead, saying she'd 'sensed' Yang. Sun hadn't had any idea what she was talking about, but he trusted her to be able to track down her teammate while he and Neptune had helped the victims they'd met along the way. But now, Yang was bleeding out and missing an arm and the cat faunus was nowhere in sight! They needed all the backup they could get!

The Grimm howled at them, Neptune's shots stymied by some sort of crackling black forcefield around it. It dashed forward, Sun barely able to see it as anything more than a black blur, and smacked Neptune back with a single swipe of its claws, sending him flying into a tree.

"Hey!" Sun called, firing a volley into the monster's back to draw its attention off his partner. The beast turned on him, the monkey faunus quickly smacking his hands together to summon a pair of light clones to assist him.

They lasted all of five seconds once the Grimm charged, its talons slicing through them like paper mâché. But it was enough time for Sun to leap away and draw it further off from Yang and Neptune. He twirled Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang as fast as he could, unleashing a continuous barrage upon the black beast.

Good news, the dust rounds hit home. Bad news, the Grimm disappeared into mist the moment it was struck, suddenly reappearing even closer to the monkey faunus just like… Blake's shadow clone.

He fired again and the black energy field crackled across the Grimm's face, just like aura. But Grimm didn't have aura, so how was this…

Shadow clone.

Aura.

Yang was off guard around it.

Blake was nowhere to be found.

No. No, no, no, no, that was impossible. It was insane.

But then, so was Yang breathing pink fire from her mouth. So was Weiss shooting out a black glacier. They wouldn't be stupid enough to ingest dust to do it after all. The tournament had kept him and Team RWBY from talking as much as he wished, but he had caught a few mentions of magic being a part of the reason they were missing for three days. At the time he'd thought they were speaking figuratively, but if not… no, that was crazy.

Wasn't it?

He didn't have any more time to contemplate it before the Grimm smashed into him. Its talons streaked out and smacked him across the chest, driving down into the pavement. He tried to twist his fall into a roll, but it was on him too quickly, slashing at him again and again as his nunchucks were battered aside, his aura the only thing keeping his chest from being torn open. And that was quickly failing.

He couldn't stop it. The Grimm was faster and stronger than anything he'd ever seen. He couldn't seize an opening in its assault because its slashes came so quickly that there wasn't enough time to exploit anything before the next one came. Maybe Neptune would hit it from behind, but would that really be enough to bring it down, especially with the nearby Grimm started to close in to assist their champion? And if it really was Bl—

Suddenly, a thunderous roar split the sky. The Grimm laying into Sun suddenly halted its assault, looking to the sky. Indeed, every Grimm in the courtyard and perhaps all throughout Vale suddenly turned their gaze to the firmament.

Sun, not being a complete idiot, scrambled out from under the Grimm and regrouped with his partner next to Yang, readying themselves for their last stand.

Fortunately, they needn't have bothered. Every Grimm in the courtyard, including the one that had nearly killed them, ran off in the direction of the roar.

"What the hell was that?" Neptune gasped, his hands shaking even as he maintained his hold on his rifle.

Sun fearfully glanced between where the Grimm had left and Yang's bloody and dismembered form, his suspicion making the sights even more horrible. "I don't know. But we need to get Yang to a medic before she bleeds out."

"What about Blake? We can't just leave her out here!"

Sun frowned. If the crazy thing he was thinking was by some impossibility true, he wasn't sure they could do anything for Blake at the moment.

"She'd never forgive us if we let Yang die," he said. "Who knows when they'll come back."

Neptune scowled, but nodded. "That roar… what was it?"

Sun didn't know. It had to be some sort of Grimm, but it was louder and more ferocious than any he'd ever heard. They were already being forced out of Beacon. How much worse could this mess get?

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Cinder grinned as the Wyvern soared over Beacon, making to circle the CCT tower as it bombed the surrounding area with spawning mud. New hordes of Grimm rose to its call, those that were already present answering their commander's call. Her efforts to create negativity had been more successful than she'd even imagined if she'd drawn such a powerful Umbral Spirit from its deep slumber beneath Mountain Glenn.

"Um, mam," Emerald spoke tentatively. "Are we safe from that thing?"

Cinder glanced back at her minions on the rooftop, affecting a reassuring smile. It was a necessary thing, given even Mercury had been startled from recording the Atlesian Knights by the dragon's arrival. It was not without reason of course, the beast would crush them in an instant if it got the chance. Only the Scarab Grimm within her that had turned her eyes gold, one of only two species her mistress had personally created, would allow her to communicate with it and direct its rampage. And even then, she would prefer to have the maiden's full power before confronting the creature directly.

"We'll be fine, Emerald," she declared. "You two should head to the rendezvous point. With Torchwick gone, the knights won't be lasting much longer. I can handle the rest."

Mercury nodded. "Good luck, boss."

He left without another word, but Emerald hesitated.

Cinder chuckled. Such a good little pawn. "Go on now, Emerald."

"But, mam, it's Ozpin. Are you sure you won't need—"

"Go," Cinder commanded, now scowling. She would not have her strength doubted by a street rat she'd raised up. Even if her foe was the Queen's nemesis, she would not be defeated. Never again.

Emerald paled and nodded, following after her partner.

Cinder returned her gaze to the battlefield, feeling carefully for the magic she needed. She discarded the frozen gale of the Schnee, the dying flame of Xiao-Long, and even the strange darkness that almost felt like a Grimm itself. Instead, she sought out the flickers of lost time, her gaze finally finding her target.

Ozpin raced around the battlefield, seemingly in half a dozen places at once at times. At last, he stopped in the midst of the courtyard, calling Pyrrha Nikos away, with some… blond boy? Some blond boy followed her for some reason.

No matter. The Wyvern's arrival had forced Ozpin's hand. If he was looking for a replacement maiden candidate, he couldn't do much better than the clever and righteous Mistral champion.

Of course, that power was meant to be hers and no one else's, so she could stand beside Teacher. And as the trio of huntsmen dashed into the CCT tower, she knew it would be in her grasp soon.

* * *

 **Some things are made better by the group's trip to Fairy Tail. Others are made all the more tragic.**

 **Next up is the tower.**

 **An extra huge thank you to my patrons: ArcherMcMuffin, Gregg Tracton, Keith Traction, StabKingPro, Annaya Chan, Nora Okonus, Paula mandel, and Carl Li.**

 **Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!**

 **Go Forth and Conquer!**


	12. Chapter 11

**And now for what I'm pretty sure a fair portion of you have been waiting for.**

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 **Beta-ed by xenosaiyan**

* * *

Pyrrha and Jaune raced out of Beacon Tower as fast as they could, the cataclysmic sounds of battle crashing behind them.

They stopped to catch their breath amidst the rubble just outside the entrance. An open locker rested to the side on a cracked stone wall.

Pyrrha shook her head as her mind reeled. How did it all go so wrong? Ozpin had come to get her and Jaune, bless him, hadn't been willing to leave her side during the chaos of the fall and had followed them down to the vault. He'd been as stunned as she'd been when she'd first seen Amber, speechless at the titanic mass of magic power that was only a few yards from them.

The headmaster's urgent commands had roused him from his confusion and Ozpin had reluctantly ordered her partner to watch the door. He then turned to her and asked her one last time if she was willing to take up the maiden's power.

She'd barely been able to form words, but she had just managed a nod. She was unworthy of such power, her hands had murdered Penny after all. No matter what sinister mastermind might have been behind the scenes or how many times her friends assured her that she was just a pawn in the Black Queen's game, she couldn't forget that it was her semblance that had torn the poor girl limb from limb.

But, Ozpin certainly knew the magic better than she did, he'd been dealing with it for who knew how long. And if he thought she was the best candidate for the job… then she'd just have to do everything in her power to make sure something like what happened to Penny, like what was happening to Beacon at that very moment, never happened again.

She had gotten into the pod and Ozpin began the process of transferring Amber's aura to her. It was pain and agony the likes of which she had never dreamt of before, her muscles howling as her bones seemed to liquefy, her soul drowning in the sludge of their remains. She screamed, for what else could she do in the face of such torture.

That was her mistake.

Jaune, wonderful, kind, caring Jaune, immediately abandoned his post and rushed to her side. His eyes were on her instead of the door.

And then she came through it.

At first, Pyrrha didn't recognize her, the pain obscuring her mind. Then, she'd been confused, her few memories of the woman identifying her as Mercury and Emerald's team leader, and wondering why and how she'd come down to join them. But finally, with a lead ball of dread plummeting through her stomach, she realized the truth as magic equal to Amber poured out from the witch as she drew her bow from a shower of sparks and volcanic glass.

Cinder Fall strutted out of the elevator and fired an arrow straight into Amber's heart, finishing the comatose girl instantly. The pain faded from Pyrrha's conscience, the power abandoning her and rushing out to the murderess. Her eyes glowed with a demonic light and she rose into the air atop a pillar of flame, like a fallen angel who'd clawed their way up from hell, so much raw magic within her that ethernano began to flood out of her to saturate the air.

Pyrrha blasted the door of her containment pod at the woman. Cinder batted it aside like it was nothing.

Ozpin thrust out his hand to prevent her from charging, shaking his head adamantly. "Take Jaune and get out of here! Find Glynda, Ironwood, Qrow! The tower cannot fall."

"But I can help," she protested, her failure taking root in her mind.

Her headmaster shot her a pitying look. "You'll only get in the way."

Pyrrha had come from Mistral, but all of Remnant knew of Professor Ozpin's prowess. He was thought by most to be the preeminent huntsman in the world, a living legend. If he didn't think she could help, then she couldn't help, no matter how bitter a pill it was to swallow.

She had nodded reluctantly and grabbed her partner. Cinder let them pass. Perhaps it would only take her a moment to cut them down, but that opening would be all that Ozpin needed to cut her down and she wasn't willing to risk such a blunder against a foe of his caliber.

Now, here they were. Safe outside the tower while Ozpin battled for his life.

And Pyrrha could do nothing to help. It was infuriating. She was supposed to be a huntress, and yet people were dying, and she couldn't do anything. Ruby had taught her magic, her origin was full of power, and yet she barely knew how to use it enough to do anything.

"Okay, I think I have Glynda's number," Jaune muttered frantically, unaware of his partner's inner turmoil. He searched through his scroll's contacts as he walked off. "Come on, where is it?"

Pyrrha didn't follow him, her eyes focused solely on the tower. She could still hear the rage of battle, the blazing heat bearing down on their flesh even from deep below in the vault.

"Pyrrha?" She turned to Jaune. His eyes were wet with stress. Not that she could blame him. "What was that?"

Pyrrha looked to the ground, unsure if the secrecy she had been trusted with was still to be maintained. "I—"

The sound of an explosion from the tower interrupted her. Both huntsmen-in-training heard a rush of flames as Cinder rocketed to the top floor.

Which could only mean one thing.

Jaune looked to the ground. "Ozpin…"

Pyrrha looked down, the knowledge of her headmaster's obvious fate sinking into her soul. He had given everything he had, and that monster had brushed him aside anyway. Even if they called for those that he'd claimed could fight the homicidal maiden, there was no way they would arrive in time before the tower was destroyed.

Her hands curled into fists. There was only one thing to do.

If Cinder destroyed the CCT at the very top of the tower, she cut off worldwide communication, cause international panic. And that could lead to Grimm invasions just like this one happening all over Remnant. "There's no time. Go, get to Vale and call for help."

"Huh? What are you going to do?"

Pyrrha took a step towards the tower. Jaune followed her gaze and his eyes widened.

"No. Pyrrha, you can't. You saw how powerful she is. Pyrrha, I won't let you—"

Pyrrha shut him up with a kiss, one she'd wanted to give him for so long. Jaune was stunned for a moment, but in the end, rested his arms at her waist, a fact she was quite thankful for.

She kept it going longer than she should have. She knew this would hurt him. But she had dreamed about kissing since that night at the dance that felt so long ago, and the reality was even better than she had imagined.

Besides… she wasn't sure she'd get another chance.

Pyrrha broke the kiss, her eyes closed. "I'm sorry."

She used her powers to shove Jaune into the abandoned locker and slammed the door behind him. She programmed the rocket system to take him as far away as it could manage on its compromised fuel. He pleaded with her the entire time.

She blocked it out and watched him fly away. He might hate her for it, it was hypocritical for the girl who didn't want to be alone to send away her dearest friend. But at least he'd be alive to hate her.

Pyrrha took a breath to calm herself. She knew this was a terrible idea. Cinder had the power of the Fall Maiden and had nearly killed the previous wielder without it. With it, she had defeated Ozpin, a huntsman with more experience than she could imagine. Whatever meager talent Pyrrha had would be nothing to her.

And yet, if she did nothing, the world itself would be in danger. She had to at least buy enough time for the reinforcements Jaune would inevitably call to arrive. She couldn't let everyone down.

She couldn't.

She rushed into the tower.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

Ruby's hands curled into fists at her sides, her eyes hardening from silver to steel at the sight of her sister broken before her. Neptune and Specialist Tremaine helped Yang's unconscious, guild mark arm absent, body onto a stretcher and onto a priority evacuation bullhead.

"What happened?" she asked Sun, who was busy applying medical balm to the heavily bruised Ren and Nora. "What happened to my sister?"

"And where's Blake?" Weiss added.

Sun cringed. "Yang fought some really powerful new Grimm. It was humanoid, it had wings, and it could do something similar to Blake's shadow clones. As for her… I don't know."

"You don't know!?" Weiss screeched. "You were right behind her!"

Ruby frowned. "It had Blake's semblance?"

"Yeah," Sun replied, his eyes downcast. "I had a thought about that, but… it's impossible."

"Not as impossible as you'd think."

In terms of pure destructive force, Yang and Weiss were the most powerful of their team, with her sister's style emphasizing it far more than her partner's. No mere Grimm, except maybe that huge Wyvern that had forced everyone out of the school, could last five seconds against her, and they certainly couldn't cut off her arm. But if it had Blake's semblance… well… they'd all heard the story of why Lisanna had been trapped in Edolas for years. The cat faunus had been hesitant to use the Grimm she'd absorbed for a reason, but if she'd been pushed that far…

They had to find her. Eventually, Blake's magic was going to run out, and when it did, her transformation would fail. Maybe she'd be able to scrounge up enough power to absorb the Grimm that would no doubt be surrounding her, but they couldn't take that risk. They had to find her and bring her home.

Winter and the professors had ordered a mandatory evacuation, the Wyvern's arrival forcing even the White Fang out of the school. They simply didn't have the numbers to hold both Beacon and Vale proper when the Grimm were literally spawning in the academy.

But, Blake, Jaune, and Pyrrha were still out there, in the thick of it. And Ruby wasn't going to leave any of her friends behind.

"I'll find them," she declared. "I'll find them and bring them back."

"No," Weiss said, coming to her side. " _We_ will. Though, we should probably go before Winter gets back. She likely wouldn't approve of this plan."

"Guys, I get what you're thinking of, but there's an entire army of Grimm out there," Sun reminded them. "You're not going to help them if you guys get killed out there."

Ruby smirked. Sun did have a point. Even as skilled she and Weiss were as huntresses, running headlong into a horde of Grimm with no backup was pretty much the dumbest thing you could do. If you got cornered, that was it. No matter how strong you were, eventually their numbers would overwhelm you. And their friends would be in just as much trouble as before, if not already dead.

But leaving them behind was not an option. Fairy Tail didn't abandon their friends.

"We've got a few tricks up our sleeves," Ruby said, spreading her arms. " _Requip!_ "

White light erupted all around her, but instead of covering her hands or her weapon, it bathed her entire body in a radiant glow. The shine lasted for a long few seconds, far longer than her weapon requips. After all, the larger and more complex something was, the more difficult transporting it in and out of the requip dimension was, especially when it needed to take shape around her body instead of just appearing for her to grab. The fact that Erza could shift between armors in the blink of an eye was a testament to her hard-earned skill.

Ruby didn't shift armor that much, she was still building her first suit after all, but she'd worked hard to reduce the required time for her weapons as much as possible, getting it down to a similarly brief period as her mentor. Getting her new suit on took more time, but in time, when it was finished, it would be well worth the effort.

As it was, when the glow faded, her prototype bedecked her splendidly. Her crimson hood remained, but the black blouse beneath it had disappeared, replaced by scarlet scale mail covering her entire form and granting her a skirt that extended down to just above her knees. On her back were four stubby wings, two on either side of her spine, all layered with hundreds of feather-shaped steel links.

Sun's jaw dropped. "Wha- what? Wait, so magic... you really did… so, does that mean that Blake… was…"

Nora patted him on the back as much as her injuries allowed. "There, there buddy. Take it all in."

Weiss cocked an eyebrow, daintily flicking the scarlet steel. "Reaper's Rose, huh? You've been working on it."

"Yup!" Ruby grinned proudly. "It'll give me a really nice speed boost—"

"To your semblance, right?" Weiss smugly smirked. She tapped the feathers under the cloak. "Because with these stubby wings, I don't see it doing much else."

"Well, yeah, I've been working on that, it's based on Heaven's Wheel after all—"

"You still can't get the hardening and mirror magic to work on the petals, can you?"

"…let's… let's just go save the others."

At that moment, Weiss' scroll rang, Jaune's caller ID plain on the screen.

"Speak of the devil."

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

Cinder sauntered around Ozpin's office, her glass heels clacking against the floor.

It felt good, just as it should. No less than she deserved.

Her mistress had told her of the maiden's power and she had had half of it within her for months now, but nothing could have prepared her for having the full force at her command. It was more than mere fire; it was as if the sun itself had taken residence within her and she had become one with its radiance. Perhaps the Ophiuchus' flames were mightier still, but in that moment she could only revel in the power. All creation revolved around her and feared her wrath. Just as Teacher had warned, the ethernano erupting from within her was so numerous that her origin couldn't contain it all, enriching the environment around her by her very presence.

It was glorious.

The Wyvern flew outside the office and hovered in front of the window. The beast growled, its dark murderous bloodlust radiating. The spirit's very nature demanded that it do its best to try to end her existence. Only the Scarab within her allowed her to command it and indeed kept it from trying to take her in its jaws immediately.

She shushed the monster like it was an impudent child. "This is your home now."

The Wyvern would guard Beacon, spawn a Grimm horde to drive off any attempts by the local huntsmen to retake the school. With the Fall Maiden's power in hand, Cinder would have more than enough time to acquire the Relic of Choice and perhaps search Ozpin's archives for any information he had the spheres.

She lit a flame in her hand, unable to contain her excitement. Everything was coming to a head. Soon, she'd return to the Queen's castle victorious, Relic in hand. Her mistress would celebrate her and allow her to undergo the Ascension Chamber, elevating her to the height of the Gates, the Eclipse Etherious! And once Teacher returned from Atlas, they would-

A ding from the elevator drew her attention. The doors opened, and a sword came flying out.

Cinder smirked and leisurely dodged the blade. Soon after, a shield followed out with an irate Pyrrha Nikos on its back.

Cinder repelled the assault and watched as the Mistral champion summoned her weapons. She smirked and propelled herself upward on a jet of flame.

She had beaten Amber without her power. With it, she'd crushed Ozpin. Pyrrha Nikos was not a threat.

Nonetheless, the Invincible Girl charged.

Cinder was casual about the battle. Time and again, she knocked Pyrrha down. Each time the girl got up and tried some new way to fight her better.

Her sword was destroyed? She put Cinder in a chokehold.

The chokehold was broken by the Wyvern destroying the tower? Use her powers to bury Cinder in the rubble.

That didn't work? Throw her shield.

Cinder battered the shield aside and broke the girl's aura with a blast of fire. Pyrrha smashed into the wall and slumped to the ground. The Fall Maiden sighed and turned her back.

Pyrrha's eyes shot open and the girl lunged for her shield. She rolled, picked it up, and threw at Cinder's back.

Hearing the movement, Cinder casually formed her weapons, notched an arrow in her bow, whirled, and fired. The arrow broke upon Nikos' shield, but then reformed and shot her in the heel. The shield went over Cinder's head.

Cinder tutted mockingly as Nikos crawled. The young huntress, for there was no other word for her foolish tenacity, was impressive. If Cinder was still a mere mortal, the girl might have actually stood the slightest of chances against her. Sadly for her, she had become more powerful than she could possibly imagine.

Never again would she be powerless. Never again would she be beaten.

She circled around the beaten girl and lifted her chin up. "It's unfortunate that you were promised a power that was never truly yours."

She nocked another arrow into her bow and aimed at Pyrrha's heart. "But take comfort in knowing that _I_ will use it in ways you could never have imagined."

Pyrrha stared back at her. "Do you believe in destiny?"

Cinder narrowed her eyes. What did she—

"Pyrrha!"

A flurry of rose petals alerted Cinder to the oncoming threat more than the shout. She whirled around, raising her bow to intercept an imminent scythe swipe. Her shaft, the blades of her swords in their alternate form, easily parried the crimson polearm. Silver eyes, eyes that had once been her own, glared at her with righteous fury.

Cinder glanced down at the scarlet emblem tattooed on the back of her new attacker's hand. Her golden eyes widened, Salem's interest in the four huntresses finally sliding into place in her mind.

Despite the interruption, she couldn't help the smirk that rose to her face. She loosed the arrow she still had notched, the flaming shaft streaking straight for the huntress' shoulder. Her foe disappeared into rose petals against right before it fired, far too quick to have been mere reflex. She'd been planning to give up the attack already, using Cinder's focus on her to dash around her with her semblance and grab Nikos. It was an effective strategy, if audacious. The girl's back was left wide open as she pulled the other huntress to the edge of the destroyed tower. If Cinder felt like it, she could have killed her there.

But such a thing would be dreadfully pedestrian. Besides, she had just acquired the full powers of the maiden. She needed someone to test them on since Ozpin had been far too dangerous to take chances with and Nikos hadn't been able to push her nearly far enough.

And, seeing Ruby Rose stand protectively over her injured friend, bedecked scarlet armor with her oversized gardening tool in hand, she could think of no finer guinea pig than a Fairy Tail wizard.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

Ruby's mind was whirling. She and Weiss had made it to the bottom of the tower, and her partner had used a line of glyphs to let her dash up to the top while she held off the swarm of Grimm converging on the ground level. Then she'd seen it.

Pyrrha.

Cinder.

Cinder pointing an arrow at a powerless, auraless Pyrrha's chest.

If she hadn't had the speed boost from her armor, if she'd been even a second later…

Suffice to say, she had no doubts as to whether Roman's information was true.

"Pyrrha," she spoke quickly keeping Crescent Rose brandished protectively in front of her friend. "Are you okay?"

"I… I… no," Pyrrha stuttered, as if awakened from a nightmare. "Ruby, she has magic, my aura's gone and… I think she cut a tendon in my heel. I can't stand. I can't help you."

"That's alright," Ruby assured her. She narrowed her eyes at their enemy. "You've done what you can. I'll take it from here."

"You'll take it from here?" Cinder chuckled. "Really, little girl? And just how do you plan to do that?"

The Wyvern circled around, its titanic wings buffering the young huntresses with a vicious gale as it perched itself behind Cinder, an orange glow building beneath its jaws.

Ruby's grip on her scythe tightened. The terrorist mastermind before her had a point. Even if Pyrrha hadn't warned her, it would have been impossible to miss that she was the elementalist they'd all been sensing glimpses of since they'd returned. But it wasn't even so simple as her being a powerful wizard, though she certainly was that, easily in the highest echelon of power the Fairy Tail Wizard had ever encountered. No, wizards took in ethernano from the surrounding area and processed it through their origin into magic to be used for spells. But Cinder… ethernano was building up within her, an unlimited amount being served up to her origin on a platter. It was impossible, incredible, and horrifying all at the same time.

And fortunately, not without its advantages to Ruby. After all, Cinder's origin could only absorb so much ethernano at once. And with whatever entity within her constantly creating more, the excess had nowhere to go but the surrounding area. She could already sense the density of the crucial particle rising to the levels she had known back on Earthland, instead of the paltry saturation native to Remnant.

She could fight with all she had. It might not be enough, according to Jaune's message and the present situation, she was facing a murderer who'd both killed her headmaster and been about to kill her friend, as well as the most powerful Grimm she'd ever seen that she was somehow controlling. But she would fight, and for the friend she had to protect, she would win.

First and foremost, she needed to protect Pyrrha. Trying to run back down the tower with her wasn't an option, both the terrorist and the Grimm had long-range capability and would shoot them right out of the sky. She'd have to strike fast and hard, keep their enemies focused on her so they couldn't get an opening to aim a shot at her friend

"Well?" Cinder mocked, flipping her bow in one hand. "Come on then. I'm curious to see what a real Fairy Tail wizard can do?"

Ruby blinked, suddenly dumbfounded. "Fairy—how do you know about Fairy Tail—"

Cinder's open hand shot forward, a funnel of flame rushing towards the huntresses. Ruby barely reacted in time to snag Pyrrha and use her semblance to dash them both to safety, the fire blasting past them and out into the sky. A glance back as she laid her injured friend down revealed the metal floor they'd been standing on scorched black, errant rose petals that didn't escape the blaze crumbling to ash.

Ruby's eyes narrowed, the heat still rolling across her skin. All that power, nearly equal to Natsu's Lightning Flame Dragon Roar, in one instantaneous shot. No incantation, no real spell even, just raw power.

Well, she certainly had her work cut out for her.

Cinder spread out her hands, her golden eyes aglow with orange light as she rose into the air on jets of flame. Above them, dark clouds appeared from nowhere, crackling with electricity as cyclones and lightning crashed down all around the school from their holds.

"If you wish to surrender, I promise you ends will be quick."

Ruby responded by bursting into rose petals, streaking across the tower and rising into the air above and behind the hovering terrorist, her scythe raised high for a heavy slash.

Cinder casually bent back her arm and brought her bow up to intercept the strike, a resounding clang ringing through the air as the steel clashed with sharpened volcanic rock, the ominous glow within the weapon implying it was strengthened by magic. The terrorist swiped her open hand by her bow and snapped off the bottom half to wield her twin swords. With Crescent Rose still blocked by one, she sliced the other one through open-air, a slash of flame and molten stone carrying outward from the motion.

Once again, Ruby had to resort to her semblance, her only skill for midair maneuvering until her armor was finished. For now, it lessened the strain on her aura, but, unlike Cinder, she'd actually been fighting in the Battle of Beacon already. Her soul had already spent quite a bit of its energy.

She dodged the blast and rushed over to Cinder's front, taking form right before her chest, far too close for an effective strike with her enemy's swords or Crescent Rose. Fortunately, the light of her magic was already glowing over her scythe, Waxing Petal requiping into her grip and lunging forward for a swift stab.

Cinder dropped her weapons, the blades crumbling to dust as they fell through the air. Her hands rushed inward and clapped down on either side of the short sword, her aura crackling as she stunted the blade the same way she'd blocked Crescent Rose's bullets back when Ruby had first encountered Roman. The terrorist's palms radiated heat as they began to glow like molten iron, Waxing Petal quickly shining in a similar condition.

Ruby's eyes widened, instantly vanishing her sword back to her requip dimension before her foe could melt it. She knew instantly what her opponent's next move would be and reached into her arsenal for her counterattack.

Sure enough, without the threat of a sword, Cinder thrust her palms forward in a single, brutal strike. Ruby coughed at the heavy blow to her stomach and shot down to the floor of the tower. As she went, she tugged her arms towards her, even as she smacked into the ruins.

At that point, the swords she'd summoned behind Cinder launched themselves at the terrorist's back. Normally, summoning and controlling that many weapons would be a hugely impractical waste of magic, but Erza circumvented that pitfall with her Heaven's Wheel armor. Which just so happened to be the primary inspiration for Ruby's Reaper's Rose armor. It didn't allow for as many as her mentor's, she'd be ramming a whole mess of other magic into by the time it was done after all, but it was enough for a decent barrage.

To her enemy's credit, she immediately sensed the requip magic, or noticed the light from the weapons' appearing behind her. She whirled around, her hands alight with fire, but the most she could do was cushion the blow as the blades rained down on her. She was knocked from the air down towards the ground, though she managed to keep from striking the floor by reestablishing the jets of flame under her feet.

Ruby leapt back to her feet, ready for another exchange. For a moment, it looked like she might get it, Cinder scowling in distaste. But a second later, that same scowl disappeared, replaced by an amused smirk.

The red hooded huntress cocked an eyebrow in confusion, until a low, thunderous growl emanated from the sky beyond the tower. Her heart stopped as she remembered her other, not so little problem.

The Wyvern opened its maw, a pungent, hellish fire blazing within the depths of its gullet. But it wasn't aimed at Ruby.

"Pyrrha!"

The Invincible Girl wasn't seeming very invincible, unable to stand with a draconic demon bearing down on her. She did her best to crawl away but once the enormous fireball was loosed, it was instantly clear that she wouldn't be able to escape the blast zone.

Ruby summoned Tulip's Aegis into her grip and rocketed into the orb of hellfire's path, surging all the power she could into her shield. A mystic circle glowed bright red in the air before it, the shield's defensive magic activating with maximum strength.

The Grimm's fire rammed into the tiny girl, the flames surging over her steel and licking at her cloak. Ruby held back the blaze with everything she had, her aura flickering as the effort took its toll. Still, in combination with her magic, she held, not a single ember passing her guard. Her friend was safe.

Or at least, she was until a smirking Cinder raised a blazing hand towards the fallen champion.

Ruby's eyes widened. If she moved to block the terrorist's strike, the Wyvern's attack would incinerate Pyrrha. But if she didn't, Cinder would do the job. No matter what she did, Pyrrha would die. Her friend would die.

She'd failed.

She'd _failed._

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

"Move. Move, god damn it!"

Pyrrha hissed to herself, half out of pain, half out anger. She tried to stand, to run as Cinder raised her palm with fire ablaze. But every time she tried, her foot broke out in agony, her tendon cut and useless. She tried to crawl away, but she couldn't move nearly fast enough to avoid her enemy's aim. Her aura was completely depleted, her semblance spent. There was no way out.

She'd tried to stop Cinder, to hold the line until help could arrive. But the Wyvern had annihilated the CCT in a single pass, and the new Fall Maiden had picked her apart without even drawing her weapon. Pyrrha had heard many of her tournament opponents decry her when they thought she couldn't hear, declare that fighting her was pointless, that no matter how strong they thought they were they always felt powerless against her.

She imagined she finally knew how that felt, to be powerless. And she hated it.

Now, Ruby, one of the friends she'd prized so much, had valued so much, was handicapped having to protect her, because she'd been an idiot. She didn't know if her red hooded friend would be strong enough to defeat Cinder, she could easily sense the wide disparity in their power, but having to constantly worry about defending her wasn't helping. In a strategic sense, perhaps… perhaps it would be better if she let it…

No! Damn it, she couldn't think like that! She didn't want to die! She'd only just gotten everything she'd ever wanted, friends that she could live with, to not be alone anymore. She wanted to play more video games with Ruby and Yang, to talk about her favorite books with Weiss and Blake, to eat pancakes and dance with Ren and Nora. She wanted to just be with Jaune more, to find out how he felt about that kiss, and maybe, if he didn't hate her for her foolishness, have a few more.

She couldn't die! She couldn't let Cinder beat her! She had to move!

And there was still one thing that might help her do that.

She closed her eyes and reached deep within herself, ethernano churning inside her origin. Light erupted within her mind's eye and magic flowed over her entire body.

Cinder's palm thrust out and a funnel of flames launched towards the fallen champion.

Her eyes shot open and suddenly Pyrrha was engulfed in golden light, shooting into the air, barely escaping as the flames melt the floor she'd just knelt upon, the blazing heat buffeting her from behind.

That was one, potentially life-ending problem solved. Now, she just had to deal with the fact that she had _no idea how to control her flight path_!

She careened through the air like she was on an out of control carnival ride, zipping all around above both the tower and open sky. She panted madly as she desperately tried to direct herself back to solid ground. Her fingers were inches from the edge of the tower…

When the golden glow evaporated as if it was never there. Pyrrha's emerald eyes widened, her fingertips brushing the side of the tower as she began to plummet to her doom…

Until another hand reached out and clasped hers, arresting her fall. The huntress' despair suddenly blossomed into a relieved smile as Ruby heaved her back onto the tower.

Both girls landed in a heap amidst the scorched rubble, panting madly.

"Thanks," Pyrrha said.

"No… problem…" Ruby heaved, recovering her breath as she rose to her feet. "Is that… all muscle? Because if … it is… I think… you should… stop training… so hard."

Pyrrha cringed. "Sorry."

A slow, patronizing clap drew both girls from their discussion. Cinder ceased her jets of fire, landing smoothly back on the tower, the Wyvern hovering menacingly behind her.

The Fall Maiden smirked. "Impressive. Truly impressive. To learn magic yourself is one thing, but to teach it to another, even one exceptional in their own right, that is no small feat in this day and age. But I suppose I should expect nothing less from a member of such a prestigious guild."

Ruby glared at the black-haired woman. "How do you know about Fairy Tail?"

"Who do you think gave you lot the book? That is how you encountered them, isn't it?"

"You gave us the… you…" Ruby's fists tightened. "You're with Tartaros?"

That caused Cinder to cock an eyebrow. "Who? I am loyal to only one person, little girl."

"Yourself?" Pyrrha growled.

"Alright, make that two people. Possibly three if one were to count our mistress. And none of them are this 'Tartaros'."

"Then why?" Ruby demanded, magic gathering in her upper arm. "If you're not with Tartaros, what do you get out of this?"

Cinder shrugged, flames flickering across her arms. "The same thing people get out of anything worth doing. Power."

"Power?" Ruby repeated, as if Cinder had just grown a second head. She glanced warily at the Wyvern's gnashing jaws. "You rallied the Grimm into the kingdom, killed gods know how many people, for _power_?"

"A necessary sacrifice. One of the last the world shall ever require if the Queen has her way."

"You murdered Penny!" Ruby roared.

"Actually, that was her doing," Cinder replied, eyeing Pyrrha.

The champion couldn't help but look away in shame. Illusions or not, it had been her semblance that had dismembered the poor girl.

"Of course, murder is rather an overstatement, don't you think?" Cinder noted. "You can't murder a computer."

"Penny was a person!" Ruby shouted. "She was my friend!"

"She was a machine. Everything she was, everything she thought she felt, it was all programmed into her by Atlas," Cinder's gaze falter for a moment, her golden eyes momentarily absent of cruelty. "They're quite diligent in their effort to create the perfect tool. Ending her now was actually quite the kindness."

"Kindness?" Ruby growled. "You call that kind?!"

The red hooded huntress thrust her right arm into the sky, her armored sleeve rescinding to reveal a glowing Fairy Tail emblem stylized like an arrowhead above her guildmark. Her eyes blazed with silver light and surged into the symbol, its own golden shine instantly amplifying a thousand-fold. Pyrrha moved her hands to shield her eyes as a gargantuan pillar of luminous power erupted from beneath her feet, the Wyvern screeching in terror as it flapped away from its perch.

The Mistral champion could understand why. Magic power the likes of which she'd never sensed, charged and dazzling in its luster, swirled around Ruby's very being, storming and churning like the maelstrom of a summer storm, yet gleaming like the sun's finest rays. It was as if heaven itself had descended to cast judgment upon the wicked, and the creatures of Grimm would find no quarter from it.

"I'm not going to let you hurt anyone else!" Ruby screamed. " _Gather! Oh, river of light that's guided by fairies…_ "

The titanic mass of light crashed down from the firmament, compressing into a gigantic orb behind.

For a moment, Pyrrha smiled. This spell, whatever it was, was more powerful than even the maiden. It wouldn't last nearly as long, but it only took a moment of overwhelming strength to finish a fight. They could win!

At least, that was what she'd thought. Until she saw that Cinder's smile hadn't left her face. And a series of glowing orange sigils were fading from her wrist.

Her eyes widened and snapped back to Ruby, where a sinister fiery glyph was building up power beneath her feet, the red hooded huntress completely unaware.

" _Shine! To destroy the fangs of evil!_ **Fairy Gl** —"

"Ruby, look out!"

Pyrrha's magic flared instantly, her own golden glow rocketing her into her friend and shoving her out of the way just as Cinder's sigil exploded from beneath her. Tremendous heat and force slammed into the huntress, her mind sinking into darkness as her friend's spell blasted off into the sky.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

Ruby groaned, her aura crackling into near-nothingness as Fairy Glitter shot off harmlessly into the air, erupting in a massive golden halo a hundred feet above the tower, turning night into day for the briefest instant.

Her silver eyes widened, whirling around to focus on her fallen friend. "Pyrrha!"

She dashed over and fell to her knees, examining the other huntress' injuries. The redhead was covered in black burn marks, a thin line of blood dripping from her mouth. If she hadn't already been moving away when the blast struck, there probably wouldn't even have been a body to examine. Ruby frantically pressed her fingers to her friend's neck, sagging in relief when she felt a pulse, faint but present.

"What did you expect?" Cinder called over mockingly, her hand already rising with another batch of flames. "For me to just let you charge up?"

Ruby grit her teeth as she whirled around to face her enemy. No, she hadn't expected that, it was why she'd gotten her talking, tried to distract her just like with Torchwick. Evidently, it hadn't been enough. Fairy Glitter didn't have the near-instant charging time of Fairy Law. If Pyrrha hadn't shoved her out of the way and taken the blast…

Not that it even mattered in the end. Ruby had just played her strongest card, Mavis' gift already faded from her arm, and all it had done was provide some fireworks for their demise. The Wyvern had returned, another fireball already building in its gullet. Her aura was almost certainly in the red and without her semblance, she just couldn't keep up with Cinder raw power and almost instant spellcasting, and the terrorist hadn't even come close to going all out. She was treating the entire fight like a _game_. And their lives were her toys.

Maybe… maybe Weiss would finish up with the Grimm Horde below and come to their aid? It was wishful thinking, what with Cinder's finishing blow already charged and ready, but it was all she had. She would protect Pyrrha with everything she had, but even if she held off their attacker, it wouldn't be long before her wounds did her… in?

Ruby was roused from her despair by a single seemingly irrelevant detail. Fairy Glitter was an instantaneous assault, a single blast that quickly faded after it was fired.

So why was the sky still shining?

A rush of ethernano, somehow different from any Ruby had ever felt before suddenly exploded in the heavens, the strange pocket of magic she'd sensed above the tower since her team had returned suddenly erupting with magic. With the hesitance that came with hope unlikely to be rewarded, she looked up to the sky.

She found herself staring at a giant golden sphere of light, Fairy Tail's emblem blazing against the black night.

"It was here!?" Cinder yelled, her composure for once utterly shattered. "It was here all along?!"

Ruby had no idea what she was talking about or how her wayward Fairy Glitter had caused this phenomenon. But it wasn't long before the glowing orb faded, and a pair of figures, one about her size and the other even smaller tumbled down to the tower.

"Aaaahhhhhhh!" The figure about Ruby's size, long blue hair reaching down from her scalp, screamed as she plummeted, a sensible reaction to suddenly dropping a hundred feet through open air.

Fortunately, the smaller figure grabbed onto her back and suddenly sprouted pure white wings, catching the wind and stalling the pair's fall so that they merely crashed to the floor right in front of Ruby. From so close, the huntress could clearly see the feline features of the smaller figure.

Tears of joy flooded the red hooded girl's eyes, her hope suddenly feeling much closer to being rewarded.

"Are you alright, child?" the exceed inquired to her charge.

"Yes, I'm okay. Thank you, Carla," the blue-haired girl responded, shaking her head as she looked up. "But we need to find the others before the White Witch—" her voice halted mid-sentence when her brown eyes met silver and widened in shock. "Wha—Ruby?!"

For the first time since hell had broken loose, Ruby broke out into a wide smile, certain that the dawn was not far off.

"Hey, Wendy."

* * *

 **Should I stop it there? I should stop it there. A nice WTF cliffhanger-y cliffhanger.**

 **All you who have been wondering if Fairy Tail characters would show up on Remnant, I present to you, the tip of the iceberg!**

 **So, Pyrrha isn't dead. For all those who are reading who have read RWBY/Zero, I told you I had a Fairy Tail crossover where Pyrrha survives the tower. She got the stuffing beaten out of her, as did Ruby, but they're both alive... for now.**

 **Also, Reaper's Rose Armor! Ruby completing and upgrading this puppy, as well as learning to cast Fairy Glitter without Mavis' help, is going to be a constant thing throughout her time in this story.**

 **An extra huge thank you to my patrons: ArcherMcMuffin, Gregg Tracton, Keith Traction, StabKingPro, Annaya Chan, Nora Okonus, Paula mandel, and Carl Li.**

 **Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!**

 **Go Forth and Conquer!**


	13. Chapter 12

**Just a heads up, I'm preparing to return to college all this week (packing and then driving), so next weekend's chapter might be a bit late.**

 **Now then, time for the fun!**

 **If you wish to support me and my college tuition, please check out my P a treon for future chapter summaries, story ideas and more: p a Treon.(c om) (backslash) themaster4444**

 **Beta-ed by xenosaiyan**

* * *

" _Alright, ready Wendy? Carla?"_

 _The Sky Dragon Slayer nodded, her hands still over her eyes. "We're ready, Ruby."_

" _Is all this really necessary?" Carla asked. "We know you're going to show us your float."_

" _No, you don't!" Ruby squealed. "I mean, it could be that. But it also might not be. You don't know, it's a surprise."_

 _Wendy chuckled. The huntress had brought them down to the Fantasia Parade's staging site only a few days before the Harvest Festival, after Team RWBY had spent several days and nights desperately cobbling together their various contrasting ideas into a single vehicle compatible with Weiss' initial design. It wasn't that hard to come to the same conclusion as Carla, but she didn't want to ruin Ruby's fun._

" _Alright. Open your eyes in three, two, one… now!"_

 _Wendy dropped her hands, her eyes widening immediately._

" _Well," Carla said. "It is certainly… a surprise. Unique, indubitably."_

" _I know, right!" Ruby cheered._

 _Team RWBY's float was, like their weapons, a complete hodgepodge. The base was a standard black frame, but with a massive dark tablecloth covering it that would blow back in the breeze once the vehicle started moving. A giant arch stood framing the back, painted a full rainbow of colors with red, white, black, and yellow streamers strewn across the steel. Below the structure was a pair of mechanical generators meant for some unknown purpose. And mounted on both sides were…_

" _Are we allowed to put cannons on our floats?" Wendy inquired. "That doesn't seem entirely safe."_

" _Eh, any weapon_ could _be dangerous. That's the entire point of a weapon," Ruby shrugged. "But Alzack wouldn't have given them to me if he didn't think I could handle them. He's a dad, they're usually way too overprotective about this stuff."_

" _They are?"_

" _Well, mine is at least. Seriously, he's all, 'no Ruby, you can't send Zwei out to Uncle Qrow on a rocket. You have to use the mail'. Why do we have to waste time with the postal system? Zwei could totally handle a rocket!"_

 _Wendy raised an eyebrow. "Zwei is your dog, right?"_

" _Yup. He's a corgi."_

" _I presume he has his aura unlocked?" Carla inquired. "Otherwise, I question why you think so highly of his durability."_

" _Eh, Uncle Qrow said he once dropped him from the top of Beacon Tower. Apparently, it took Ms. Goodwitch hours to fix the damage. That's better than any of me or Yang's records for taxing her semblance. And he says dad was able to get even better back in the day. Before he got all parent-like and everything."_

" _So, raising you to be sane?"_

 _Ruby smiled fondly. "Yeah. I mean, he was a bit out of it after mom died, but he's always tried his best to keep me and Yang out of trouble. Even if we don't always make it easy for him."_

 _The red hooded huntress let out a soft chuckle, her smile slowly disappearing. "He's probably going out of his mind right now."_

 _Wendy put a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder. "Not for long, Ruby. I promised you, remember? You will get back to Remnant."_

" _I know. But we've already been gone a month," Ruby looked over their float. "We've been getting stronger, but we've also just been relaxing and making awesome floats."_

" _You can't train all the time," Carla advised. "You'd go mad."_

" _But everyone back home has no idea what happened to us. It could be months or years until we're ready to go after Tartaros, and we don't even know if they'll have any information we can use. There were two other symbols on the book's cover after all. For all we know they might have just provided parts!"_

" _Parts?" Wendy replied, tilting her head. "For a magic book?"_

" _Don't start learning to tease me now."_

" _Teasing?"_

" _You really should know better than to think she'd do that," Carla mentioned._

 _Ruby sighed. "Sorry. It's just… I like making a float. I like learning magic and getting into barfights and having slumber parties. I love being part of Fairy Tail. But every minute I stay here, having the greatest adventure ever, is another minute everyone back home has to think I disappeared into thin air. Losing mom nearly broke dad. If me and Yang disappeared without a trace…"_

" _Oh," Wendy muttered. "I… I didn't think of that."_

" _I'm sure he'll be alright, Ruby," Carla softly comforted her. "It may be a heavy blow, but like you said, he'll still have Zwei and your uncle. He won't do anything drastic."_

" _I hope," Ruby muttered. "But even if he doesn't, every day we spend here is a day we miss what happens on Remnant, or maybe more, we don't know if there is time shenanigans between dimensions. What if we're here for four years and our classmates have all graduated? What if we're here for ten and they're all married with children? We're experiencing wonders more amazing than anything I could have ever imagined but we're also missing so much. I'm happy, every day… but I'm not sure I should be."_

 _Wendy looked down, feeling so small in the face of her friend's problems. It was a familiar sensation. For all she specialized in support magic, for all she'd improved as a fighter, she always felt useless to everyone else, a burden to be protected. She didn't have Natsu's power, Erza's strength, or Gray's mind. Everyone else always seemed to know just what to say to help, but she floundered even in that._

 _But Carla was silent and no one else was present. Ruby's previous glee had disappeared in favor of a morose frown. If she did nothing, that sadness would persist. Perhaps it would disappear later, with her team and the rest of the guild present, it was practically a certainty. But she didn't want her friend to despair a moment more than she could help._

 _And so, even if she didn't know exactly what to say, she had to say_ something _._

 _She gently took Ruby's hand in her own, the silver-eyed girl glancing back at her._

" _I've never been the best at searching for Grandeeney," she started slowly, not exactly sure where she was going with this story. "Natsu is always keeping a lookout for any new clue to find Igneel, and Gajeel has pretty much given up looking for Metalicana, but I've always just… not really looked. I want to see her again but… I just don't know how I would go about it. And it's always there, in the back of my mind, wondering what happened to her, if she's alright, but at the same time… there is nothing I can do about it."_

" _What are you saying?" Ruby asked. "That I should just be… okay with it? With causing trouble for everyone back home?"_

" _Not okay with it," Wendy clarified. "Just… aware of it. You're doing everything you can to get back home, pushing yourself more than you already are will just be harmful to your body. Be aware that you're not intentionally causing them to worry, and that, if they did know where you were, they wouldn't want you to make yourself miserable over them. It's okay to feel happy here, Ruby."_

" _Is it?"_

" _Can you just decide to stop being happy? Would any of your friends back home want you to?"_

 _A small smile tinged itself over Ruby's face. "No. I guess not."_

 _Wendy mirrored her happy expression, squeezing her hand for comfort. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Carla grinning proudly at her. She guessed that meant she'd said the right thing. Great! That meant she'd helped her friend._

" _You know, Wendy," Ruby muttered. "If… when, we find a way home, maybe we'll be able to go back and forth between Remnant and Earthland. If we can find a book on this end, I mean, there won't be anything stopping us from just using both. You guys can come and see our home."_

" _That sounds nice," Wendy said tentatively. "But what about the Grimm?"_

" _Well, yeah, there is them," Ruby admitted. "But, there's so much more to it. There's comics, and tv, and more kinds of cookies than you could imagine! There are bullheads, they're sort of like magicmobiles but they fly! There's dust and… uh… okay, actually now that I think about it, this place not having Grimm is pretty great."_

" _Indubitably," Carla noted._

" _But Remnant still sounds like a great place," Wendy quickly said. "I'd love to come visit you guys there, once you find your way back. It'll be nice to go to another world without planning to fight an entire kingdom."_

 _For some reason, that statement just made Ruby's smile widen. She tugged on her and Wendy's joined hands and pulled the Sky Dragon Slayer into a deep hug._

" _Thank you, Wendy."_

 _Wendy smiled and returned the huntress' hug. "I'm glad I could help. I know I'm not that strong or smart, but if you ever need anything, or even just want to talk, I'm always here to listen."_

 _For some reason, that caused Ruby to chuckle a bit. "Not that strong? I don't think I've seen a Fairy Tail wizard who 'wasn't that strong' since I got here. And you're certainly smarter than a lot of people I've met, here and on Remnant."_

" _I'm really not," Wendy muttered._

" _You really are," Ruby declared. "Trust me. It may not seem like it now, but you never know what you're capable of until you're really tested. When the day comes when you can't fail, you won't. You'll find the strength to do what you need to."_

 _Wendy's brow furrowed. She thought of all the fights she'd gone through with Fairy Tail: The Oracion Seis, Edolas, Tenrou Island, the Eclipse. All of them were harrowing battles, but with the exception of her match with Sherria in the Grand Magic Games, she wasn't sure if she'd ever truly gone through a trial. After all, she'd always been able to count on the others to help her whenever her own meager strength proved to not be enough._

" _Have you been tested yet?" she asked Ruby._

 _The huntress shrugged. "I'm not sure. I guess being sent here counts, but I'm not sure how well I've managed it. I keep breaking down to you and Erza. But I think Team RWBY is succeeding. So far at least. I guess I can only prepare and hope we pass whatever comes next."_

" _You will," Wendy assured her. "We both will. Whatever comes next, we'll get through it together."_

 _Whatever it took, whatever she had to do, Wendy wouldn't let her friend be harmed if she could help it. Maybe someday soon they'd been separated by an interdimensional barrier, but until that time came, she would help Ruby survive whatever life threw at her._

 _That was the Fairy Tail way._

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

It was odd that that conversation would pop back into Wendy's head after so long. But then again, her old friend had appeared right before her eyes, so perhaps she could be forgiven for being distracted from the moment.

It had been over two years since she had last seen Ruby Rose, the girl from another world leaving with her team on a mission for the royal family the same day Wendy and the rest of the Strongest Team had left to meet Sir Warrod to begin the adventure that would take them to Sun Village. She'd been worried when her friend had not been at the guildhall when they'd returned, but soon after Tartaros had made their move and after so very long, she'd been reunited with her mother, only to lose her once again. Then the guild had disbanded and with Team RWBY still nowhere to be found, she'd had to move on, as had the others.

She'd been through so much since then. Her time with Lamia Scale, the restoration of Fairy Tail, the War with Alvarez, the One Hundred Year Quest, the Five God Dragons, and… and the White Witch.

Oh gods, where were the others? Were they alright? Natsu had barely been breathing and Sitara had tried her best to keep him alive, but she was a better healer and she'd been… wait, how was she even still alive?

"Well, well, well, isn't this an unexpected surprise."

Wendy and Carla whirled around from Ruby and the redheaded girl she was crouching over and turned to face the source of smooth, mocking voice. It was a woman in an elegant crimson dress, with long black hair and blazing golden eyes. Behind her, hovered a black dragon-like creature with a gigantic bone mask over its face.

"It's Wendy Marvell, correct? The Enchanter?" the woman asked. "My name is Cinder Fall. I believe I know someone who would very much like to see you again."

"What? No!" Ruby shouted. "Wendy, don't do it, she's evil!"

"Wait, what?" Wendy exclaimed, her head whipping back and forth between Ruby and the other woman.

"For gods' sake!" Carla screamed, her own eyes wide with confusion. "What is going on?"

"Short version?" Ruby panicked. She pointed to the black-haired woman and the black creature. "Cinder's trying to kill us…" She pointed to the unconscious girl behind her. "And Pyrrha needs healing! You do that while I hold her off!"

"What?!"

Ruby didn't respond to the befuddled squeal, instead dashing forward towards the black-haired woman, Cinder apparently, flames already racing from the woman's hands. Unless Cinder was the dragon creature behind her that felt like a spirit for some reason?

Whatever the case, Wendy staggered up onto her feet and stumbled over to the unconscious girl, Pyrrha. Though she still had no idea what in the world was going on, it was clear that the person before her needed medical attention. Ruby's endorsement only meant that whatever weak doubts she might have had were silenced even faster.

She pressed her hands lightly onto Pyrrha's side, a blue glow emanating from under palms and flowing into the injured girl, beginning to stitch her wounds back together both inside and out.

Carla came to her side, glancing worriedly over the broken girl, her black burns barely being pushed back. "My god. How in the world is she still alive? Even Natsu doesn't normally take this much punishment."

Wendy cringed. She'd certainly seen worse, Erza having nearly every bone in her body shattered after their battle with Irene came to mind. Pyrrha only had perhaps half of hers broken, plus some severe internal bleeding, a concussion, and a cut Achilles tendon. If she didn't receive medical attention immediately, there was no chance she'd survive.

Fortunately, Wendy was there.

"I can help her," she told her partner. "But I need time. A bit to get her stable and a lot more to actually heal her."

"Well, Ruby is certainly doing her best to get us that," Carla muttered worriedly. "Wendy, where are we? How did we get here? The last thing I remember was Lucy putting us in a Fairy Sphere, but this certainly isn't Magia Dragon."

Wendy frowned. "I don't know, Carla. I don't know what's going on, but we can't not help—"

"Ah!"

Both human and Exceed whipped their heads back around to the battle behind them, if something so one-sided could be called a battle. Heat rolled off Cinder in waves that even Natsu might have found impressive before he'd trained to hunt Acnologia. The black-haired woman summoned up stream after stream of flames, sometimes blasting them at Ruby from her hands, sometimes summoning them from blazing sigils burned into the metal floor of the tower they were all on. Ruby's weapons were constantly battered out of her grip and though she dodged as best she could, bursting into rose petals to avoid the onslaught, whenever her body appeared in full a pale red energy field crackled over it. Her aura was reaching its limits.

At last, Cinder swept her hand out and a round of explosions erupted from beneath the huntress. Ruby activated her semblance to dodge, but the other woman was already charging forward on a jet of flames, a glass sword forming in her opposite hand. Just as Ruby had finished fleeing from the explosions, Cinder's sword slashed her front, her aura breaking completely. Her crimson armor kept her from drawing blood, but the lithe huntress was still forced back to the edge of the tower, a cough of sputtering out of her mouth from the sheer force of impact.

Cinder raised her open palm. "Goodbye, little fairy."

A gargantuan wall of fire surged out of her hand, far too wide for Ruby to avoid without her semblance, not at that close range. If she dodged to either side, she'd be incinerated, and she couldn't nearly jump high enough to avoid it by leaping above the attack. Even summoning Tulip's Aegis or a similar defense was useless, as even if she still had enough magic remaining to use the shield's full power, the black dragon, which Wendy was slowly become worried was a Grimm, was moving into position to launch its growing fireball at the huntress from above.

Of course, Ruby being Ruby, an impossible position was just an excuse to come up with an even more ridiculous solution to escape it.

Thus, it came perhaps as less of a surprise than it should have when the red hooded girl tipped backward and tumbled off the edge of the tower, Cinder's flames streaking right over her.

"Carla!" Wendy shouted.

"On it!" her partner answered. The white Exceed dashed forward and dove off the edge of the tower, her wings sprouting as she raced through the open air, a bright light of transformation magic flashing over her form.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

Once the air had startled whistling past her ears, Ruby wondered just when things had deteriorated to the point that falling off a building had been her best option. Sure it was better than being incinerated, but without aura, she couldn't use her semblance to arrest her fall, and Crescent Rose's recoil would tear her arms off if she tried to use it the same way she had when she'd fallen from the battleship. She needed the reinforcement of the energy of her soul.

Honestly, she was amazed she'd even survived Cinder's slash. Her aura shattered as soon as the attack landed and whether her armor prevented the sword's edge from touching skin or not, it could only cushion the impact so much. And when said impact came from a person with bucketloads of both aura and magic backing them up, it was no surprise that the areas of her chest and stomach surrounding the struck flesh currently felt like they'd been dunked in lava.

So yeah, between agonizing internal bleeding and plummeting to her doom, her attempt to avenge/protect her friends hadn't exactly gone according to plan. With any luck, Weiss would catch her… and Weiss wasn't in the plaza. Why wasn't Weiss in the plaza? It was littered with waves of black ice impaling at least two dozen slowly fading Grimm, but her snow colored partner was nowhere to be seen. And while Ruby could appreciate that she was probably trying to find some way up the tower to help, _she really needed her on the ground to catch her_ —and she suddenly wasn't falling, why was that?

She felt a pair of thin but strong arms swiftly decelerate her fall, reducing her former breakneck speed to a hovering halt over a long enough period that she didn't break her neck from the whiplash. The process still made her bones and muscles shriek in pain from the whole thing, but she wasn't dead. And it wasn't too hard to figure out who had saved her.

"Thanks, Carla," she said turning her head to face the Exceed. "That was a close… one?"

Her eyebrow rose as she was greeted not by the white-furred cat she had expected, but a white-haired cat faunus with… Carla's eyes… and, Carla's suit…

What the heck?

The girl responded to Ruby's befuddled expression with a pleased smirk that would have been right at home on the Exceed's face. "I've learned a few new tricks since we last saw each other."

Since we last… wait…

"Carla?!"

The girl—the Exceed—nodded.

"How?!"

"Magic."

… Ruby didn't know what she expected.

Carla grinned. "This form gives me a strength boost and a slight enhancement to my magic power. It's not as fast as my natural state, but I couldn't carry you with armor without it."

"Sorry," Ruby cringed. She glanced back up the tower. "I don't suppose…"

The two began climbing before she'd even finished her sentence, a grin breaking out over the huntress' face as the wind began to accelerate through her hair.

"I've spent enough time trying to talk you lot out of doing idiotic things to know that I'm wasting my breath," Carla said. "At least this way, you'll be close enough for Wendy to put you back together before you push yourself too far."

"Aw, you do care," Ruby smiled. "Thanks Carla—fireball! Fireball! Fiery fireball!"

Both girls' eyes instantly widened, the Wyvern's maw wide open and angled straight down at them, a radiant and hellish storm of flames raging within its jaws. The beast reared its head back and released the unholy maelstrom down to obliterate them.

Carla's gaze narrowed as they rocketed up towards the blaze, sweat pouring down their brows as the heat bore down on them. At the last second, when the titanic inferno took up their entire vision, the catgirl yanked them to the side, twirling over themselves through the air as the flames rushed past them and smashed into the plaza below. Ruby was suddenly very glad Weiss hadn't been there. But also…

"You can barrel roll now?" Ruby exclaimed, the two of them setting down once more at the tower's peak. "That's awesome!"

Carla cocked an eyebrow. "What in the world is a barrel—down!"

She grabbed Ruby and dove to the tower floor, a rush of flames flying over their head, trapping the two on the ground. The red hooded huntress glanced up and caught Cinder bearing towards them, a cocky smirk on her face and a blaze surging from her hand.

Then, she raised the other one.

Ruby's eyes widened. If they moved, they'd be torched by the blaze surrounding them. But if they didn't, the follow-up blast would incinerate them. Either way, they'd be toast. And then there would be no one to distract Cinder from going after Wendy and Pyrrha.

"Come on, Weiss," the huntress muttered desperately. "Where are you?"

Too late. Wherever her partner was, Cinder thrust her second hand forward and her second storm of flames burst towards the helpless wizards.

" **Sky Dragon's Wing Attack!** "

Twin whips of wind rushed into the path of the flames dispersing both blasts as a rush of cool night air washed over Ruby, the heat of the fire cast away. She looked up to find a familiar figure before her. Not the one she had hoped for, but a welcome one nonetheless.

"Wendy!" Ruby called out, both she and Carla staggering to their feet. "Is Pyrrha okay?"

The other Fairy Tail wizard nodded, her magic not dissipating despite the end of her counterattack. "She's stable, but I can't get her into fighting shape without more time. Is there anywhere nearby she can get medical attention?"

"Um, the docks. They're to the east," Ruby replied, confused.

"Good," Wendy declared. "Carla, get her to safety. Ruby, that dragon thing feels like a spirit, I'll need you to handle it."

"Um, okay," Ruby said hesitantly. "But what are you going to…"

She got her answer when Cinder strode through the smoke leftover from the previous clash, her eyes alight with orange light as magic rolled off her body in waves.

"No," Ruby whispered fearfully. "Wendy, she's too powerful. You won't stand a chance."

She looked back at her and smiled. "I don't know how long it's been for you since we last saw each other, but it's been quite a while for me. Don't worry. I can handle this."

"But she—"

Her worried words ere cut off as Cinder unleashed another surge of flames, far too close for Wendy to have enough time to fire off a proper counterattack.

But even still, Ruby felt something change in the air. The ethernano in the atmosphere suddenly felt damp, thick and heavy with power, yet clear and serene at the same time. The air churned like a river parting for a great boat, cutting through the thickest of nature's power and harnessing that very same primordial strength for its own ends.

" **Dragonforce** ," Wendy whispered.

All at once, as if she were simply releasing a held breath, a great wind rushed out of the blue-haired wizard as she threw her head back and released a mighty roar to the heavens.

The change was instantaneous. Her hair, previously perfectly combed and tied into orderly twin tails, burst out into a wild mane streaming down past her waist, now a pale and striking pink. Pure alabaster scales adorned her wrists and ankles like elegant armor, a pair of especially large ones even branching of her back as miniature wings. The air swirled around her, humming with like a maelstrom waiting for the first crack of thunder, as if on her slightest command it would erupt into an invincible and unending cyclone, the sky bowing to its queen and rushing to annihilate the enemies of its dragon.

Ruby's jaw proceeded to drop. She felt that was the appropriate response. Even Cinder had paused in her assault to gape at the sight before her.

Wendy thrust out her hands to either side of her, an emerald magic circle suddenly shining from beneath her. " **Deus** —"

An incoming fireball, courtesy of the Wyvern, interrupted whatever spell she was casting, forcing the Dragon Slayer to leap away, an easy wind supporting her jump and easily carrying her to the other side of the tower, the Grimm having to take a few seconds to reorient itself, Cinder already turning to follow its attack.

"Ruby!" Carla shouted, the catgirl rushing for the still unconscious Pyrrha. "The monster!"

"Oh, right!" Ruby replied, finally roused from her wonder. She carefully raised her head to the Wyvern and began to funnel power into her throat as her eyes shined silver.

The titanic beast, before so terrifying, now gaped at her in horror. A desperate fireball quickly charged and fired from its throat, streaking towards the silver-eyed huntress. She barely fired off a blast in time to dissipate the blazing orb, the monster flying off a bit farther in the sky to reclaim a superior position.

Ruby scowled, her initial assault defeated. Out of worry, she spared a glance at the rest of the tower. Carla heaved Pyrrha up into her arms and took off for the dock, her wings skillfully surfing the buffeting winds cascading out from Wendy and Cinder's battle. Honestly, every blow those two struck aggravated the wounds plaguing Ruby's inside forcing her to drop to one knee from the pain even as they tackled each other off the tower.

Unfortunately, the Wyvern had not been idle while her injuries had staggered her, another fireball already launched her way. And this time, she hadn't already been gathering power to stop it.

Though, the sudden chill in the air reassured her that she needn't have bothered.

" **Ice God's Vacuum Aias!** "

A large cube of black ice sprouted in front of Ruby, the fireball smashing into the front and melting a thin layer from its face but going no farther.

Ruby turned around to see her partner running towards her, shooting the heiress a wry smirk. "Thanks. But where the heck were you?"

Weiss scoffed even as she helped her leader to her feet. " _I_ was climbing up the other side of the tower so we could catch Cinder in a pincer attack. Excuse me, if my glyphs only let me use normal superspeed instead of your insane double version."

"As leader, I will overlook your deficiency, just this once," Ruby teased, her joking tone an effort to ignore the growing pain inside her. "Now then, let's kill us a Wyvern."

"Wait a second," Weiss said, glancing around. "Where's Pyrrha? What was that light a few seconds ago? And who's that girl fighting Cinder?"

"Carla's taking her to the docks, I'm pretty sure a Fairy Sphere, and Wendy."

"Wendy?" Weiss exclaimed. The heiress gazed out into the turbulent sky, her mouth gaping as the clouds churned with power and tornados descended to ravage the air. "That's _Wendy_?!"

"I know," Ruby grinned. "I didn't think she could pull off pink hair either, but she really makes it work. Now then…"

A monstrous roar reminded both huntresses of their current problem, the Wyvern soaring around the tower to shoot around Weiss' shield, fire building in its maw. The white-haired huntress slammed her sword pommel into her open palm, black frost weaving before the metal.

Ruby clutched her side but maintained her smile. With her friends by her side, they had control of this battle.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

Cinder was rapidly trying to figure out when she'd lost control of this battle. She'd gone from toying with a Fairy Tail wizard, to really testing the limits of her new powers against one.

Granted, she really shouldn't have expected any less. The only person Salem wanted more than Wendy Marvell was Lucy Heartfilia herself, and that was only due to a combination of what she could lead them to and the Ophiuchus's personal interest in the Celestial Spirit Wizard. The Mother of Grimm spoke glowingly of the girl's enchantment abilities, believing that her skills would enable them to take a massive step forward towards destroying their ultimate enemies. To that end, she would have to be taken alive.

Of course, in all those talks, her mistress had never once mentioned that the girl had _Dragonforce_!

Cinder was more than familiar with the heights a Dragon Slayer could reach, but from what she understood accessing their ultimate state required outside assistance. Had the girl somehow learned to enter it at will? What kind of intensive training and study had she done to accomplish that?

Whatever the case, she was proving herself far more of a handful that Rose and Nikos. The two of them tumbled through the air, locked in close combat. Cinder thought she would have the advantage in such an arena, after all, the girl had no aura or armor to prevent Cinder's swords from cutting into her. Instead, she found Wendy needed no such protection, the girl ducking and weaving around her slashes as they fell, her small fists racing into whatever openings she could find in her opponent's guard. A fierce gust accompanied every punch the diminutive wizard threw pushing forward even when the nascent maiden dodged, ripping a chunk off Cinder's aura with each strike whether it landed or not. With the damage she had taken during her duel with Ozpin, her defenses wouldn't last long under such an onslaught.

It was infuriating. She had the maiden's power. She was stronger than this! She had killed Ozpin! She shouldn't have been being pressed so much by a measly child!

Another hammering burst of wind to her stomach reminded her exactly who that 'measly child' was. A full-fledged wizard trained by a creature of myth even among magic and tested by some of the mightiest beings the world had ever seen. Salem did not hold many in high esteem, and those who were there had very well earned their place.

Of course the girl could handle the maiden's power. It would be quite the disappointment if such a mythic figure couldn't even hold their own against the first steppingstone in Cinder's evolution. Once she had completed her ascension to the Gates, she could brush the Sky Dragon Slayer aside just as she could any other who would dare earn her ire.

But to reach that next stage, she would have to return to her mistress, Relic in hand. It wasn't in the vault, so she'd need to search the rest of the school, which meant dealing with her opposition. And she would only be rewarded further if she brought Wendy back to the Grimmlands. Teacher would be so proud!

Cinder kicked both her legs below her, summoning up a rush of fire from her feet to arrest her fall, her swords reaching upward from her stationary position, coming at her foe from slightly different angles due to the sudden cessation of movement. Wendy reacted quickly, throwing out her hand to the side and firing of a blast of wind, the blowback pushing her away from the glass blades. She smashed her fist against the surface of the tower, creating enough of a dent to use as a handhold to hang off.

Even still, a thin streak of blood dripped along the side of her chin.

Cinder smirked. So even a dragon could bleed.

Wendy outstretched her available hand, an intricate emerald circle glowing beneath her form on the tower. " **Deus** —"

Cinder didn't give her a chance to finish, cupping her hands together in front of her. A massive ball of ignited all around her and a bright beam of concentrated heat erupted from her palms, streaking towards the tower. Wendy abandoned her attempted spell and leapt higher up the tower, smashing a new handhold. The fiery beam smashed into where she'd been before, the metal it touched melting into molten slag the moment it made contact.

Keeping up the pressure, the new Fall Maiden narrowed her eyes as she followed her foe, her attack tracking her all of the tower, leaving a molten trail in its wake. As long as the Dragon Slayer was kept on the defensive, she had time to prepare the rest of her offensive.

The greatest strength of the maiden's power was its limitlessness. It would constantly supply her with ethernano, so much so that she would never run out of power so long as she was in good enough shape to use it. Of course, that also meant she had to be careful how much she used at any one time. If she used too much, she could tear her human body apart, even with aura. That wouldn't be much of a problem once she was a Gate, but for now, it was a restriction she had to be careful of, one she was fortunate she'd had practice controlling when she'd only had half the power. She'd hardly pressed herself in the battle so far, but it was becoming quite clear that she'd have to go to her limit to keep up with the Dragonforce wizard.

So, as she continued her assault, she slinked the anchors of her power into the clouds above. It was a maiden's right to command the forces of nature and the heavens above crackled at her will, electricity flickering through the rising storm.

Wendy danced up the tower, the heat beam following her from below as she jetted from impromptu smashed handhold to handhold. Her speed was truly exceptional to consistently keep ahead of the blast, but she was trapped on terrain that gave her no advantage and her foe gave her no time to fire back a spell that could strike Cinder at range.

And her enemy's trap was about to be sprung.

As Wendy fled upward, the heat beam following from below, the crackling clouds finally unleashed their payload. Two bolts of sapphire lightning crashed down from the sky on either side of the Dragon Slayer's upper flank, a cloud of smoke surging up from their impact, the sight of the Fairy Tail Wizard coming to a sudden stop, the last thing Cinder could see, the heat beam reaving through the area she'd been trapped in a second afterward.

Cinder smirked, recalling the heat beam, but maintaining her spherical barrier of flame around her. She rose higher into the air, sinking the magic of her previous assault back into the clouds, their black vapor churning with power. With the tower's structure damaged by the areas she'd melted, she would unleash an attack that would topple it entirely—

" **Deus Corona! Deus Equs! Il Arms! Il Armor!** "

The smoke was suddenly blown away, a bright green light shining from beneath Wendy's feet, her previously suppressed magic power flaring back to life.

For a moment, Cinder was boggled by how she'd survived her pincer attack, only to notice a deep black burn on the wizard's right forearm.

"She couldn't dodge it, so instead she used her speed to rush through the edge of the beam before the trap could fully close, ensuring only a glancing blow," the maiden muttered, amazed. The amount of precision needed for such a maneuver, this girl wasn't just powerful, like Nikos she was skilled. Only with the strength to be truly dangerous.

Cinder thrust out her hands and let loose a fire blast, but by that point Wendy's head was already reeled back for an attack, her cheeks puffed with air.

" **Il Vernier! Enchant!** " the slayer shouted, throwing her head forward. " **Sky Dragon Roar!** "

A raging cyclone soared out of the girl's mouth and slammed into the fire blast. The flames were ripped asunder as the rushing wind-torn through the blaze. Cinder wisely chose to abandon the failed assault and rose higher into the air, the enemy breath attack streaking under her shield, the force of the strike rattling her bones.

The Dragon Slayer seized her foe's moment of weakness. Wendy bunched her knees and shot off into the open air, cloaked in ethereal emerald light and with the wind itself as her steed. With every step she took, a miniature cyclone surged beneath her soles, boosting her further and further into the sky so fast that Cinder could barely follow her.

But she didn't need to. After all, she knew where she was going. The girl was attempting to get back into close range, make use of her newly enchanted physical abilities to knock Cinder out of the sky. She must have thought her sphere of flames was the maiden's only defense, and that with enough wind she would be able to penetrate it. Perhaps she was even correct.

But she'd never make it that far.

Cinder reached up into the clouds and with a mighty shout, called down a trio of titanic tornados from the heavens, each one crackling with magic and lightning. The lead one crashed down right on top of Wendy, consuming the lithe wizard and sending her barreling toward the ground.

The Fall Maiden let out a relieved sigh as she felt the girl's power begin to fade. She really should have known better than to have ever mistaken the wizard for weak, she was a compatriot of the Ophiuchus after all, but she hadn't been so pushed by an opponent since she'd confronted Amber. Truly, Salem had good reason to want her on her side even if she wasn't a candidate. Which hopefully meant she'd survive the landing. She could pick her up after everything had settled down and take her back to the… why was the tornado disappearing?

Indeed, the raging mass of wind and electricity suddenly stopped its ferocious spin cycle, instead being sucked downward by some unseen force. Once the dark clouds were torn away, the culprit was revealed to be the still airborne Wendy, the cyclone rushing into her mouth even as she spasmed from the electricity, the errant sparks scorching her flesh.

How… how was she… argh! Irrelevant! She was doing it, and that meant Cinder had to act fast to counter her before she regained momentum.

She scowled and threw out her hands, moving the remaining two tornados away from buffeting the crumbling tower to surround the Dragon Slayer, both of the spires ravaging the Beacon grounds below as they got into position.

They put the wizard equidistant between them, each of their gales, individually strong enough to rip houses from the ground, pulling her in opposite directions, which should at least slow her down, combined with the multitude of burns covering her body. Especially as lightning lanced out from both cyclone and streaked towards the pink-haired girl. With all the damage she'd been piling up, it'd only take one more solid shot to put her down for good.

"You are truly a credit to your guild, Dragon Slayer," Cinder complimented, for once quite sincere. "But a maiden's power is without limit."

She cupped her hands together and another heat beam, this one twice the size of the one she'd used to kill Ozpin, blasted toward the wizard, the tornados' lightning acting as a vanguard.

But none of them would ever find their target.

Wendy rocketed straight up into the air, faster than she'd been on the tower, each of Cinder's attacks streaking harmlessly underneath her. The girl flew forward and vertical, taking the high ground from her foe, streaks of white wind gathering all around her.

Cinder moved to realign her attack when the girl thrust out her hands. All of a sudden, the maiden's dark tornadoes were obliterated, the raging wind within them sucked away to form a rampaging white typhoon, radiant and blinding in its purity, the shining wall of air surrounding both combatants.

Wendy glared at her foe with the savage eyes of a dragon, her wild pink hair flapping behind her.

"I hear the rush of the wind. I feel the pulse of the atmosphere. I know the touch of the air, from the softest breeze to the fiercest hurricane," she declared. "I know them because they are mine! This space is mine to protect! I am the Maiden of the Sky, and _you should not have hurt my friend_!"

The Fairy Tail wizard twisted her hands, each blazing with magic. The gargantuan typhoon suddenly collapsed in on itself, streaking towards the Fall Maiden like a spear thrust by a god.

" **Dragon Slayer Secret Art! Shattering Light: Sky Drill!** "

Cinder's eyes widened, a clod, blinding terror flashing through her mind. She brought her hands up and fired off a heat beam, but it was instantly smothered but the stampede of wind. The cyclone smashed into her outstretched arms, her aura holding for a solid three seconds before it shattered into nothingness as the bones in her hands snapped into a thousand pieces. She thrust her legs out beneath her, flaring out massive jets of flames, but all that did was slow her descent. Nothing could stop it.

No! No, no, no, no, no! She would not be beaten! She would not be weak! She would not… if the maiden's strength wasn't enough, then she would unleash her own—

She realized what she'd been about to say, the magic already trickling from her eyes to her throat… and struck the ground before she had time to be properly furious with herself.

Dust and smog rose from the impact, the pavement shattering into chunks as her body laid broken in the crater, a warm trickle of what she suspected was blood dripping down her forehead. Her vision began to darken as Wendy hovered above her in the sky, mocking her…

Why wasn't she coming down to finish her? In fact, why was she glancing all about as if she couldn't see…

A familiar head of pale green hair entered her fading sight, accompanied by dark skin and red eyes.

Oh. So that was why.

Good little minion…

The last thing she felt before her vision when dark was Emerald heaving her onto the thief's back, departing from the battlefield.

The last thing she'd thought was that she'd lost.

She'd lost again.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

Wendy glanced about the dust and rubble left by her attack, her eyebrow raised in confusion, as her body shuddered in pain. She was far from critically injured, but the many black burns across her skin felt free to make their presence known. It was impressive really, if a bit frightening. She hadn't encountered many wizards outside the guild capable of matching her in Dragonforce, and it was always as astonishing that they'd managed to acquire such power on their own as it was terrifying to have to face someone of their strength. If she hadn't had the chance to cast her enchantments… she thought she still could have won, but she likely would have been far more injured before the battle.

It was a shame that someone that powerful wanted to use their abilities to hurt people, but since Cinder had done so, she needed to find her and turn her over to proper authorities of… wherever she was.

Except, as the dust cleared, the red-dressed woman was nowhere to be seen. Wendy could _smell_ her just fine, along with another person she didn't recognize, but at so high up, that only gave her the general area. And according to her nose, that general area was right below her. Except according to her eyes, there was no one in sight.

Was it some sort of illusion magic? If it was, she didn't have the time to search through it. Unlike Carla or Happy, she couldn't fly per-say, even in Dragonforce. She had to constantly and consciously push wind magic out from her feet to act against gravity. It was a straining technique that required constant calculation, and outside of Dragonforce, she didn't have the power to pull it off. She couldn't stay airborne for long, even with the boost she got from devouring Cinder's tornado. Especially since the ethernano in the atmosphere around her had suddenly become frighteningly thin, worse than anything she had ever seen.

" **Ice God Gleipnir!** "

" **Silver Spirit Wail!** "

Wendy's eyes darted over to the tower. The Grimm dragon unleashed another fireball at the peak of the tower, only for it to smash into a giant cube of ice the wizard recognized as Weiss' Vacuum Aias, a technique she developed after observing Natsu and Gray's scuffles one too many times for her liking (and getting into a few with Yang herself). The cube, though completely solid when initially formed, was designed to have various sections within dissipate after the outer shell was formed, leaving behind seven layers of ice interspersed with seven vacuum-sealed areas. Thus, even if flames were able to burn away one layer, they would simply fizzle out within the airless vacuum. No matter the power, fire was still fire, and it could not burn in a vacuum.

Granted that just caused Natsu to start using Lightning Flame Dragon Mode against Gray in their daily spars, but that was beside the point.

After the fireball fizzled away, gigantic black chains of ice lashed out from the block and lashed themselves around the beast's wings. Predictably, it was able to pull against the strain, even lifting the cube, but it was substantially slowed. And that left it wide open for the pillar of silver light that erupted from the tower's peak a moment later. The Grimm roared its last defiance as its body turned to stone.

Wendy grinned, thrilled that her friends had emerged victorious. Only to pale in terror as the monster's corpse, easily weighing several dozen tons crashed into the side of the tower. As soon as the carcass struck, the building's upper half, already structurally compromised from Wendy and Cinder's duel, began to tip over the side, plummeting towards the ground.

The Dragon Slayer instantly shot off towards the peak of the crumbling tower, Cinder's confusing whereabouts forgotten. A surge of white wind acted as her chariot as she soared along the length of the metal stronghold, careening and weaving through a rain of rubble as she went. Fortunately, midway into her flight across the ruin, she ran into her targets, Weiss assisting a pale Ruby as the two huntresses dashed up a line of glyphs.

"Wendy!" Ruby called, reaching her hand out into the sky.

The pink-haired wizard dove with both arms outstretched, scooping up her friends and soaring away from the collapse, immensely grateful for Dragonforce's substantial boost to her physical strength.

The tower struck the ground with a booming crash, an ocean of dust rippling out from the crater, throwing off Wendy's control of the wind for just a moment. The wizards hurtled from the sky, the Dragon Slayer cringing as her hair flickered back to blue.

What was going on? She should have been able to maintain Dragonforce longer than this! Why was the ethernano in the air so thin? There wasn't nearly enough to recharge fast enough to keep up the state's cost and pausing to eat air with Weiss and Ruby weighing her down would make them drop like stones. She couldn't keep them airborne!

"Wendy!" Weiss shouted. The huntress waved her hand, a set of shining glyphs appearing at scattered points in front of and below them.

Instantly understanding her friend's intention, Wendy dove downward, turning helpless flailing into a controlled fall, periodically striking each glyph to slow their momentum.

At last, the trio smacked into the pavement, groaning, but very much alive.

Wendy rubbed her head as she and Weiss sat up. The huntress looked over the once more blue-haired wizard. "Huh. It really is you."

"Hi," Wendy waved shyly. "It's good to see you again."

Weiss smiled. "You too, circumstances aside."

"Yeah, guys…" Ruby mumbled. "We can do it… toge… ther…"

The red hooded girl's arm fell, her eyes going closed as she sagged on the ground. Wendy and Weiss immediately crawled over to her, turning her over onto her back.

Wendy quickly ate a few gulps of the surrounding air and put her hand on Ruby's stomach, blue light glimmering beneath her palms.

"Is she going to be okay?" Weiss asked fearfully.

"There's a lot of internal bleeding, but nothing I can't handle," Wendy assured her.

"Good, good," the heiress muttered. After a few seconds of silence, she spoke again. "Wendy, how did you get here?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, Weiss. The last thing I remember was Lucy putting Carla and me in a Fairy Sphere. I don't even know where _here_ is."

"Oh," Weiss replied, her eyes wide. She gulped and pointed upward. "I can answer that at least."

Wendy's cocked an eyebrow and raised her head to the sky, her eyes widening. The clouds summoned by her duel with Cinder had been pushed aside, the dust storm of the collapsing tower beginning to settle.

Revealing a shattered moon shining in the heavens.

* * *

 **Ah, I'm feeling really good about that Dragonforce transformation. I think the rest of the fight is pretty good as well, but Dragonforce, especially Wendy's, always invokes something special in my heart (maybe because it looks like Super Saiyan 3?).**

 **Anyway, thus concludes the Fall of Beacon. A lot of foreshadowing here, and slowly but surely we will be following up on those threads as this story spreads out into Volume 4.**

 **An extra huge thank you to my patrons: ArcherMcMuffin, Gregg Tracton, Keith Traction, StabKingPro, Annaya Chan, Nora Okonus, Paula mandel, and Carl Li.**

 **Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!**

 **Go Forth and Conquer!**


	14. Chapter 13

**And in addition to needing to return to college, my grandmother had to go to the hospital. She's alright, thank goodness, but it did not give me any more time in my already stretched schedule. Unfortunately, that means this week's chapter is shorter than originally intended, I couldn't do exactly what I intended.**

 **Fortunately, I actually really like the character focus given here. Enjoy!**

 **If you wish to support me and my college tuition, please check out my P a treon for future chapter summaries, story ideas and more: p a Treon.(c om) (backslash) themaster4444**

 **Beta-ed by xenosaiyan**

* * *

' _Blake! Blake! You have to listen!'_

 **Kill.**

 **kIlL.**

 **KiLl.**

 **KILL!**

 **Kill the humans! Kill the betrayers! Kill the enemies of our lord!**

' _Listen to me, Blake! You are stronger than this! You can control this!'_

 **CuLL tHem!**

 **cUll TheM!**

' _Fight! Just a bit more! If you're connected to them, then you're connected to me! I can find you! I will find you! I'll find you all! We will be together again! I promise!_

 **Destroy!**

 **dEsTroY!**

 **DESTROY the fallen princess of the stars!**

' _BLAKE!'_

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

"AaaaaHHHhhh!"

Blake's head shot upward, her breath coming out in mad pants as her chest rose and fell. Her golden eyes glanced all about her surroundings, multiple machines she vaguely recognized as medical in nature beeping and blinking around her bed, the cloth wall of a tent behind them. A lamp stood next to her, casting a long shadow of hers across the floor.

"Blake!" Her eyes were drawn to her side, Sun jumping up from a chair next to her bed, a relieved smile on his face. "You're okay! Thank goodness!"

"Sun?" she muttered, her hand propping up her forehead as a wave of exhaustion rushed through her. "What… happened? Where are we? The school… _ergh_ … my head…"

The monkey faunus shot her a sad smile and helped her sit up, her back against the bed's pillows. "We're in a refugee camp. Atlas set a couple up here in the city after everyone was pulled out of Beacon. After Carla brought Pyrrha back without Ruby and Weiss, Winter took a search party looking for—"

"Without Ruby and Weiss?" Blake interrupted; her eyes wide. "Are they—"

"Oh, they're fine!" Sun quickly assured her. "They came back while we were out finding you. Jaune too. Ruby was a bit banged up, but Wendy said she'd be alright. Last I checked, everyone's over at Ruby and Yang's house. Well, Weiss and Pyrrha aren't, they're parents came and took them home, but they're okay."

"They're okay? Good. That's good," Blake muttered. Pyrrha would be fine in Mistral and while she knew Weiss had good reason to want to stay as far away from her father as possible, there was no place on Remnant safer from the White Fang than Atlas. And if Wendy was with them, any wounds that had received during the battle must have been… wait…

The cat faunus slowly turned towards her blonde friend. "Sun, did you just say 'Wendy'? And 'Carla'?"

"Uh, yeah," he replied, nervously scratching the back of his head. "After we brought you back, Weiss gave me the short version of you guys'… well, 'magical adventure'. I can't believe that is actually the best term to describe it."

Blake cringed. "I'm sorry. I'd meant to tell you in the library, but then the book went missing and everything just went to hell and… honestly, that doesn't really matter right now, does it?"

"Nope. Not really," Sun smiled. "As for Wendy and Carla, well, being _here_? The others are still trying to figure that out. Ruby and Yang only woke up a bit ago, so we've really only had Nora's theories to go on and no one's really pulling for them."

Despite herself, Blake couldn't help the smirk that rose to her. "Do I even want to know?"

"They involve no less than three waffle monsters hellbent on destroying the world," Sun revealed. "So, depends on if you're as fond of pancakes as she is."

"Not nearly," Blake chuckled lightly, the aches in her body seeming a bit lighter. Sun had that effect on her. He was a bright and easy presence in any room he was in. Talking to him didn't come with baggage or complications, it was just simple, one friend to another. There was a reason she'd felt comfortable telling him about her past even when she'd barely known him. He was like Yang that way…

"Yang!" she suddenly shouted, memories of fire and smoke and _Adam_ flooding back into her head. "Is Yang okay? Did Adam do anything to her, is she alright?"

"Adam Taurus? Not at all, Ms. Belladonna."

Blake saw Sun's eyes widen before her own did so, a voice she did not recognize, smooth like silk, or a velvet glove closing around her throat, speaking out from behind her. She whirled around to find a woman with shoulder cropped dark brown hair, nearly black, staring down on her with yellow eyes a shade darker than the huntress' own amber, a long jagged scar running down from the left one. She wore an Atlas uniform, but gray instead of Winter's white, black buttons dotting the coat.

Blake's eyes widened, recognizing the uniform from her days in the White Fang, terrified that the ghost story passed among the troops was actually standing before, having appeared out of thin air like a vengeful wraith. Her throat ran as dry as the deserts of her home as her heart hammered like a cannon in her chest. She was so distracted, she didn't notice the feeling of cold metal closing on her wrist until she looked down to see her arm bound to the rail of the bed by a familiar black shackle with a red stone.

Sun shot up to his feet, his hands diving for his gunchucks on his belt. Unfortunately, despite his well-trained reflexes, the woman before them was faster, a black pistol raised at the monkey faunus' chest within a blink of an eye, her other hand resting on a second gun on her own belt. Not out and ready to fire, but easily able to aim if needed. The message was clear.

Blake nodded to Sun and he reluctantly retook his seat, sticking his hands in his pockets. She turned back to the woman, who did not holster her own weapon.

"As I was saying, Ms. Belladonna, Adam Taurus did nothing to your teammate," the woman repeated. "Of course, I supremely doubt he was meant to."

Blake's eyes narrowed. "I don't know what you _think_ you're implying…"

"You are well aware what I am implying Ms. Belladonna," the woman cut in, glaring at the bow atop Blake's head. "Your friend here tried to get that accessory back on you last night, but the rest of the search party saw and reported your true species. After that, it was a simple matter to dissemble your little charade. Or, is there another manner of addressing the daughter of a Menagerie Chieftain that I should have used instead of 'Ms.'?"

Blake's hand curled into fists, her stomach churning with terror. "I had nothing to do with this attack. I fought to stop it."

"You turned into a Grimm and went on a rampage that injured numerous defensive personal, including maiming your own partner. Your word is frankly meaningless to me," the woman replied. "Besides, even if it was true, your split with your parents for Sienna Khan is public knowledge. There is no record of an agreement between you and the authorities of Vale exonerating you for your previous crimes—"

"Previous _alleged_ crimes."

All eyes in the tent whirled around as Glynda Goodwitch stormed in, followed by Winter Schnee and Ana Tremaine, the latter letting out a groan as soon as she saw the woman in black.

"Really, Driz?" she muttered. "Now? Of all times?"

The woman, Driz, spared the redhead a short glance. "One of the four academies was just sacked by the White Fang, Ana. Now seems like the perfect time to bring all those terrorists to justice."

"Atlas Intelligence will not point a weapon at one of my students and call it justice," Professor Goodwitch spoke icily, her hand flicking out and forcing Driz's pistol down with her semblance. The Deputy Headmistress' glare was the most terrifying thing Blake had ever seen, and that was including the secret agent who'd been threatening to drag her off to prison not five seconds ago and everything she'd seen on Earthland. "Ms. Belladonna has not been charged with any crimes by the Kingdom of Vale. You will not start a witch-hunt among my students."

"This isn't a witch-hunt," Driz growled back. "Blake Belladonna is a terrorist. You know it as well as I do. For all we know she was their spy in this disaster-"

"You will not threaten one of my students," Glynda growled, flicking her hand again and undoing Blake's cuff. "And you will certainly not use her as a scapegoat for your kingdom's blunder in this mess. If you wish to attempt to extradite her, take it up with the Council. Though I doubt they will be able to speak with you. The emergency bunkers for officials have quite the security to jump through."

The two women glared at each other for several seconds, emerald eyes clashing with yellow. Though, Blake was happy to notice that even the Intelligence Agent was slowly starting to cow under the deputy headmistress' punishing gaze.

"Drizzella," Winter said softly, even she unwilling to potentially provoke Glynda's wrath. "The Council of Vale has ordered all Atlas forces to vacate the kingdom. We are no longer welcome. The General has already left—"

"Atlas Intelligence answers to COMMAND ESR, not General Ironwood, Winter," Driz interrupted. "Your efforts to protect your sister's teammate from justice are uncharacteristically unprofessional."

"And your efforts to be a dick are entirely in character," Ana groaned. "Come on, sis. You really want to pick a fight with Glynda Goodwitch? I know you love sucking up to mom, but you're not that stupid."

Driz maintained her glare, but apparently her sister's words got through to her. Or maybe she simply reconsidered her odds fighting a huntress known throughout all the kingdoms as Ozpin's right hand. It was not a position earned lightly. Either way, she holstered her pistol.

"Speaking of mother, she'd like to see us both when we return to Atlas, Ana," she said. "Please try to be on time. There is no reason to provoke her."

With that, the dark-haired woman dissolved into darkness and sank into a second shadow connected to Blake's quickly moving into the tent's and disappearing.

"Always has to get the last word," Ana muttered. "I blame the semblance."

"Yeah, I get that," Sun said. "Must be pretty hard to win an argument with someone who can run away through a shadow."

"Oh, you have no idea," Ana moaned. "And it's even worse when mom—"

Her words were halted when the light bulb of the lamp shattered, Professor Goodwitch's hand closed into a fist in front of it. Blake's shadow proceeded to disappear.

"Are you alright, Ms. Belladonna?" the teacher inquired, far gentler than she had been a moment before.

Blake rubbed her wrist, slightly confused at the magic that was suddenly rushing through her system like it had been held back by a damn before. "I'm okay. Thank you, Professor. But, how did you know we needed help?"

Glynda turned to Sun, who shot them all a cheeky grin, He pulled his hands out of his pockets, revealing his scroll open in his grip. "All transfer students were given her number when we got here. A 'break in case of hell breaking loose' last resort. Granted, it wasn't much help when hell actually did break loose yesterday, but hey, hell was breaking loose."

"Quite," Winter noted. She shared a furtive look with Glynda before turning to her fellow Specialist. "Ana, can you please give us a moment?"

"What? Why—oh. You guys are going to talk about some top-secret thing, aren't you?" Ana sighed. "Fine, fine, whatever. I'll go make sure Driz doesn't decide to eavesdrop or something."

Blake was immensely grateful when the specialist left the tent, hoping she'd do what she'd joked about. For all Specialists were the feared one person armies of Atlas, their Intelligence agents were what White Fang told horror stories to each other about. If you were lucky, the grey and black uniform was the last thing you ever saw. If it wasn't, you'd soon pray for death. Because for all torture was outlawed for war and law enforcement throughout Remnant, it wasn't a crime if no one could prove the victim ever existed. If Driz had arrested her… there was no telling what might have happened to her.

Which made her only slightly less terrified when Winter whirled on her. "Weiss trusts you. Is that trust earned?"

Blake gulped. "I would die for her."

Winter's glare didn't alleviate. "Would you have died for your partner?"

"Hey!" Sun shouted. "Back off! She didn't mean—"

"Mean what?" Blake cut in, her terror coiling into a lead ball in her stomach. Her amber eyes flickered between the trio of huntsmen in the room. "That Intelligence Agent said I… I… Oh gods."

She… she couldn't remember. All she could remember was that sea of darkness, drowning her in hate and murderous rage, all while a familiar voice she couldn't quite place cried out desperately for her to wake up. She'd wanted to protect Yang from Adam, even now she knew he would have killed her, but instead she'd ended up doing who knew what to her.

Yang would hate her. She'd have to hate her. What she'd done… it was all her fault. Her friend had nearly died because of her and she wasn't able to do anything to save her! She had to go! She had to run, to get as far away as possible before all her enemies, White Fang and Atlas Intelligence, came crashing down on her friends to get to her…

…

No. No, she had to calm down. Weiss and Pyrrha had already been taken from them, she couldn't just leave her friends without a word. Fairy Tail stuck together, no matter the enemy. Perhaps spreading out would be the correct strategic move, but it was one they should decide on together, especially if Wendy and Carla had somehow arrived on Remnant.

Sun clasped a supportive hand on her shoulder. "Blake, it wasn't your fault."

Blake didn't respond, instead throwing the covers off her bed and jumping to her feet. "Professor, is there anything I need to do to get out of this camp?"

"Some paperwork, but I can handle it for you," Glynda assured her. She turned to Winter. "You're leaving today, correct? Can you give her a lift to Patch?"

Winter nodded. "The bullhead is ready to go when they are."

"Good, it is absolutely crucial that as many Fairy Tail wizards as possible are in the fray."

Winter raised an eyebrow, glancing worriedly at Blake. "But… they're only children."

Glynda sighed. "No one who has lived through last night is truly a child anymore."

"Wait, back up!" Blake shouted. "Did you just say Fairy Tail? You knew?"

Glynda's eyes narrowed. "More than you thought, less than you think. There is a larger game being played across Remnant, Blake. And like it or not, the forces of magic may soon be called to war."

"What do you mean?" Sun asked.

"I must return to oversee the quarantine of the school," Glynda dodged, striding back towards the tent flap. "Qrow will explain everything once you make it to Patch."

With that, the deputy headmistress exited the tent. Leaving Blake with only her self-loathing and her terror.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

"So, you're a Sky Dragon Slayer? Does that mean you can fly? Or that you can intimidate Sky Dragons to fly you everywhere? Oooo, are there any Sky Dragons on Remnant? And what's the difference between a Sky Dragon and a regular dragon? Don't all dragons fly in the sky?"

"Uh…" Wendy stuttered, her head spinning. "Yes?"

Nora pumped her fist to the sky. "I knew it!"

"Nora," Ren spoke up. "Perhaps you should let her eat?"

"Oh, good idea, Ren," Nora replied. "We should let her try some good old Remnant food. Make sure she can keep it down like the stuff from… what was your guy's world called again?"

"Earthland," Carla answered, staring nonplussed at the hyperactive Valkyrie.

Nora snapped her fingers. "Thank you, Earthland! Geez, I get the land part, but what kind of a name is 'Earth'? What does that even mean?"

"The ground."

"What? Like mud?"

"Okay, okay, how about we settle down," Taiyang advised as he entered the living room. He placed a glass of orange juice down on Wendy's table tray beside the rest of her lunch.

"Thank you, Mr. Xiao-Long," Wendy smiled. "I'm sorry to have to impose on you like this."

The huntsmen let out a friendly chuckle. "You saved my girl's life last night. And more, if what little I've been able to get out of Yang is true. Trust me, you're not imposing."

"Still I should have helped prepare—"

"You're injured, Wendy," Carla reminded her. "You cannot heal yourself, which means it is necessary to get help from others at times. You know this."

The Sky Dragon Slayer cringed, glancing down at her bandage covered arms. Her burns from her battle with Cinder were still black underneath the wrappings, only the work of the Atlesian doctors' keeping them from being in pain every moment. Truly, Remnant's medical technology was a sight to behold.

Still, it was a reminder of the situation she now found herself in. What had once been a dream of hers to find and visit her old friends in their world had now become a confusing and terrifying experience, what with being dropped right in the middle of what was quickly coming to be called 'The Fall of Beacon'. At least according to the box that was playing pictures and sounds like a lacrima… television! That was Ruby had said it was called!

Back on Earthland… when she was conscious…

She should really just eat. Dragon Slayers needed to eat.

She gingerly picked up the knife and fork and dug into the scrambled eggs, collecting her thoughts as she ate. Carla hopped next to her, using a knife and fork to cut up her salmon.

Taiyang smiled. "I thought you'd like to know. Ruby just woke up. Qrow's with her now."

Qrow. Ruby and Yang's Uncle Qrow. The other girls had talked so much about their families and friends that the names had been seared into Wendy's memory, nebulous legends building up around each of them. It still amazed her that Nora's hyperactivity was if anything an understatement. Now, she had faces to put to all the stories and it was a rather surreal experience.

"Can you two call Jaune in?" Taiyang asked Ren and Nora. "Blake and Sun should be here soon, and we should start figuring out what everybody knows as soon as Ruby and Yang are ready."

"Right," Nora said, slightly less peppy than previously. She nervously scratched the back of her head. "I mean, I'm glad Pyrrha is okay, and I guess Mistral's hospitals are probably a lot less busy but still…"

Ren placed a calming hand on her shoulder, a gesture she returned with a soft smile. They left for the backyard, where Jaune had been periodically practicing like a mad man since Pyrrha had left. Wendy didn't know either that well, she'd been asleep when Pyrrha's mother had come to get her on a… plane… yes, a plane that was provided by their sponsors, but Ruby had talked enough about the redheaded girl's affections for her team leader back at the guild for her to understand the basics.

"Are they going to be okay?" she asked.

"Oh, definitely. Don't worry," Taiyang assured her. "Pyrrha is going to be fine. You stabilized her well and the entire reason her mom took her home was because Mistral has better and, at the moment, more available hospitals."

"If I'd been able to stay awake, I could have fixed her completely," Wendy muttered, furious with herself. It wasn't like she'd wanted to fall unconscious, but after her duel with Cinder, healing Ruby and Pyrrha, and Remnant's strangely thin ethernano levels, she just wasn't able to hold off the combined fatigue from the Fairy Sphere and her injuries.

Taiyang came over and patted her on the shoulder. "You defeated a maiden one on one and still kept Ruby and Pyrrha alive. Because of you, Yang still has her sister and Team JNPR is still whole. Take it from someone who knows, it could be a lot worse. You did good."

Wendy smiled, still not sure of everything, but glad that her friend's father thought she'd done well. Although…

"What's a maiden?"

Taiyang's smile disappeared, the grizzled man gazing solemnly down at his feet.

"I'm sorry," Wendy quickly said. "I didn't mean to bring up anything—"

"No, no, it's fine," Taiyang instantly told her, a calm hand raised. "Let's just say you aren't exactly the first magic user I've encountered. The others… haven't exactly left good memories behind."

"First I've heard of it."

Wendy, Carla, and Taiyang looked at the staircase to the upper floor, a familiar blond girl standing in the doorway in her pajamas with an unfamiliar number of appendages.

"Yang," Taiyang said, standing. "You shouldn't be up."

"I'm down an arm, dad, not a leg," Yang replied coldly. Her gaze turned to Wendy and Carla, a warm smile cracking through the icy veneer. "I was worried I might have been hallucinating the two of you."

Wendy smiled. "It's good to see you, Yang."

"You're looking well, child," Carla complimented, though her eyes were worriedly locked on the huntress' absent arm. "All things considered."

"What? This?" Yang held up her stump, a glassy look across her violet eyes. "This a flesh wound. You can fix this right up, right?"

Wendy gulped. "I'm sorry, Yang. I can't bring back something that isn't there."

The blonde brawler's smile faded, her bobbing up in a broken nod. "Right, right, right. I figured that. Replacing limbs is probably something that would have come up. Don't suppose you at least have a stamper on you? I kind of lost my guild mark. Need a new one."

The Sky Dragon Slayer meekly shook her head.

Yang sighed. "Darn. Well, you guys are here. You're okay. That's what matters. Once Blake gets here, you, me, her, Ruby, and Weiss can start figuring out how you got here and—"

"Um, Yang," Taiyang interrupted. "Weiss isn't here."

The blond huntress' face froze. "What?"

"Her father came and took her back to Atlas."

"Why?"

"The school was just sacked by terrorists and is infested with Grimm. It'll take time for Glynda to clear it out—"

"No, I mean why did you let her go?" Yang demanded. "Her father's an asshole, why would you ever let her—"

"It was her choice, Yang," her father cut her off. "Even if I had any legal ground to stand on trying to keep her away, Weiss chose to go back."

"… why would she do that?"

Taiyang sighed. "Jacques Schnee practically has a monopoly on dust and a heart made of coal. According to Weiss, if she refused to go with him when in his mind, he was safeguarding an investment, he would cut supplying Beacon. And I don't need to tell you how badly Beacon needs dust right now. By going with him, she ensures he'll help with the rebuilding."

Yang's expression twitched in shock. "But… she's miserable with him."

"It was her choice to make. Sometimes there aren't any good options," Taiyang explained. "She chose the one that let her help the most people and still gave her a chance of reuniting with you guys later. She made a huntress' choice."

Yang frowned, and Wendy couldn't help but mirror the expression. She understood the logic of Weiss' choice, helping to clear out the Grimm who had occupied Beacon was crucial to protecting the kingdom from what Ruby had once told her. But one of the lessons Natsu and Erza had always instilled into her was that you didn't die for your friends, you lived for them. Weiss certainly wasn't dead, but it still felt like throwing herself to her father flew in the face of those tenants.

And yet, how many of the guild members would have died if Master Makarov hadn't given his life to clear out the Alvarez army. He'd been lucky enough to be revived, but he certainly hadn't known that would happen when he'd made his choice.

Wendy's fist tightened. That had been war. War… war changed what needed to be done. First with Tartaros, then with Alvarez, Fairy Tail had suspended its normal laws, even their policy of never taking an enemy's life. They hadn't gone into battle looking to kill, but Natsu had certainly slain numerous Alvarez soldiers during the Battle of Magnolia. Wendy herself had taken Ezel's life in their duel over FACE, demon or not, whether she was comfortable with what she had to do or not. And the God Dragons… they'd been able to help Mercphobia but she still didn't know what had happened to the others during the battle with the White Witch. Just like she didn't know what had happened to her friends, the guild, or even Sitara.

Yang scowled. "She should have stayed. We could have made sure he never even thought of pulling out, together."

Taiyang frowned. "Yang, you can't force the world to be exactly how you want it to be. As infuriating as it can be, other people make their own choices."

"Well, they chose wrong!" Yang shouted, her eyes flaring red. "We can get through anything _together_ , do anything _together_ , protect our family _together_! That's the Fairy Tail way! Not sacrificing yourself and running away—"

"Yang!"

All eyes whirled around to the door of the house, Blake and Sun standing just outside the open threshold.

Yang's words immediately froze in her throat as tears welled in her eyes, both her and her partner staring at each other. "Blake. You're… here. You're alright."

Blake's eyes locked themselves on the blonde brawler's stump, her eyes widening in horror. Her foot fell back behind her, but Sun sidestepped so that her back was halted by his chest. She glanced back only to receive an encouraging smile and a simple nod forward. The cat faunus gulped, but tentatively walked into the house.

"Mr. Xiao-Long," she greeted softly. "Wendy, Carla… it's good to see you."

Wendy smiled back warmly. "It's good to see you too Blake."

The black-haired huntress nodded before looking back to her partner, unable to move her gaze from her severed arm. "Yang… I am so, so sorry." Tears flooded down from her amber eyes, her composure crumbling away as she fell to her knees. "I was so scared that he would kill you, and I was stupid, and reckless. I promise I'll never use that power every again—"

Yang cut her off by diving down and engulfing her in a one-armed hug. "Yes, you will. This power, it's yours. It's your magic. And nothing that is yours could possibly be evil."

"What? But… I… I cut off your…"

"It was an accident. You can't control it right now, but hey, none of us could control our magic right out of the gate. You're you. You'll learn. And when you do, we're gonna beat down Adam, or Cinder, or whoever else is stupid enough to pick a fight with us until they finally get the idea. We're Team RWBY. They can't touch us."

For a few moments, Blake was stock still, completely stunned. Then she squeezed all the tighter, careful to cradle her partner below her still raw stub. The pair of black and gold knelt there, embraced in each other's arms, until Nora and Ren returned with Jaune and Ruby and Qrow came to stand at the top of the stairs.

Wendy grinned over the entire thing, For all that she was confused and worried about her friends, she was not without allies on Remnant. There was no White Doctrine here to force her to fight the people she loved. Whatever was going on, whatever had Taiyang so trepidatious about magic, they would face it together. And just like all those other times, they would move forward, together.

* * *

 **An extra huge thank you to my patrons: ArcherMcMuffin, Gregg Tracton, Keith Traction, StabKingPro, Annaya Chan, Nora Okonus, and Paula mandel.**

 **Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!**

 **Go Forth and Conquer!**


	15. Chapter 14

**Well, college is as terrifying as I remembered. Nothing to do but press on. Thank you for all your well wishes to my grandmother. She was just discharged today and all reports say she's fine, thank goodness.**

 **Now then, the fun!**

 **If you wish to support me and my college tuition, please check out my P a treon for future chapter summaries, story ideas and more: p a Treon.(c om) (backslash) themaster4444**

 **Beta-ed by xenosaiyan**

* * *

 _The stars were so beautiful. She'd overheard the humans, whenever she'd been able to slip away from father and Ophiuchus long enough to catch a few conversations floating up, admiring their shine from down below. Leo had told her how they glimmered like flecks of gold amidst a blanket of darkness, a beautiful cloak wrapped securely around the world. She had always entertained that they were most glorious up-close, their glow filling everything in sight but she longed to glimpse what the humans saw, to behold their wonder from all possible angles._

 _But of course, father had refused to allow her to make the trip to Earthland, just as he had for thousands of years. They were Celestial Spirits, the Servants of Ankh, even if he didn't really exist anymore. Unless called upon, their place was in the heavens. It was not safe otherwise._

 _She understood, but that didn't mean it wasn't infuriating to wait for her chance. Not only was her key nearly impossible to find, but because of her status, its cost in magical energy was far beyond what any Celestial Spirit Wizard could handle. She could open her own gate, but that was dangerous in and of itself. If she ran out of power before she could return… well, she'd heard from the Zodiac Spirits who'd fallen in battle before that 'dying' was not at all fun. She imagined true death was something to be avoided at all costs._

 _So, all there was left to do was to wait at the edge, hoping to catch flecks of human conversation—_

" _Hello! Is anyone there?"_

 _Her head shot up, the smooth, silky voice slinking through her connection with her key._

" _Yes!" she responded immediately, a bright, eager smile blossoming across her face. "I'm here! I can hear you, key bearer!"_

" _Ah, excellent. I had feared for a moment that the man I acquired this key from had lied to me about its significance."_

" _Acquired? Did he sell it to you?"_

" _A dear price was paid for it, yes."_

 _She snorted. "You may have been cheated. You may have the energy to speak with me, but I doubt you can summon me."_

" _That is true. After all, I am not a Celestial Spirit Wizard."_

 _She raised an eyebrow. "Then, who are you?"_

" _Someone who is seeking their creator. He is a clever man, so I thought maybe he had hidden himself in your world."_

" _It would take an awfully clever man to sneak past my father's watch," she replied, her eyes narrowing. "And that is not truly an answer."_

" _My apologies, your grace. You may call me… the Underworld King. I believe, perhaps we can help each other."_

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

"So, all that work, all that plotting, not to mention tearing me away from my work on the Chamber to provide you with the prototype Black Queen Virus, and you return half-dead, carried by a pair of children, _with no Relic_."

Watts leaned back in his seat and rolled his eyes. "It would almost be funny if it wasn't so pitiful."

Cinder glared at the suited scientist, trying in vain to ignore the ringing in the back of her head. The Scarab within her may have healed the worst of her wounds and aura had allowed her to get back on her feet far quicker than any normal person, but she'd still nearly been broken by the Dragon Slayer. If she hadn't had the specialized Grimm within her, she didn't know if she would have survived long enough for her aura to come back online and begin repairing her body. She'd be fine in a few more days, but until then she was clearly the weakest of the five seated at Salem's high table. She'd tried to compensate by having Emerald and Mercury stand at her side, show that she commanded her followers' allegiance just as the Queen commanded their own, but even she could tell it was a childish gesture.

"Where is Teacher?" she demanded. "She should at least attend this meeting by Keeper."

"Ohohoho!" Tyrian cackled, sitting up on the balls of his feet, his crazed yellow eyes gleaming in the dim light of the purple lacrima. "The big, strong little girl wants her mama to protect her. And yet, if she were here, all she'd get would be a scolding."

Watts smirked. "Her operation in Atlas is a delicate one. Frankly, if anyone but her was trying it, I'd say it was impossible. A single misstep and we could lose everything. Aside from scheduled check-ins, she will not contact us."

Cinder growled at the two men. They dared to call her weak. They dare insinuate that _Teacher_ was weak! She should tear them limb from—

No. No, that was foolish. Tyrian was fully ascended and thus too strong for her. All she'd get out of challenging him was a beating, even with the Fall Maiden's power. And as satisfying as it would be to feel Watts' bones crunch to dust as his blood soaked her hands, she still needed him alive to upgrade the Ascension Chamber. The old model overloaded the subject with so much agony that they perished from sheer pain alone, even though there was nothing actually wrong with their bodies. The only ones who'd survived the process were Tyrian, who was so mad he would endure anything for his 'goddess', and Hazel, who cheated with his semblance.

"The Maiden will be fine," said giant noted from his own seat beside Watts, dark yellow fur coating his forearms, a consequence of his own transformation. "She is perfectly capable of taking care of herself. And if something does go wrong—"

"If something does go wrong, I'll do my job."

All eyes in the room turned to the foot of the table, the room's temperature rising simply from his speech alone. The occupant of the most prestigious seat slouched casually in his coveted chair, a black cloak concealing nearly his entire body in shadow, only his blood-red scaled arms, tipped with draconic claws, peeking out from the darkness. A pair of long, curved devilish horns protruded out from the top of his hood.

Cinder gulped. "Of course, Lord Ophiuchus. She could not be in safer hands."

The cloaked man responded only with a curt nod. After all, what more was there to add. Just as the snake spirit of old had served as the protector of protectors, the guardian of the Zodiac and their royal family, their Ophiuchus would destroy whatever scant enemies the new Gates could not handle themselves.

No one doubted he could after all. He may not have been an Eclipse Etherious, but everyone knew that only Salem rivaled him in power.

The twin doors to the conference room flew open, causing Emerald and Mercury to cringe in terror, the black aura of their leader slinking through the chamber. All present, even the Ophiuchus, rose to their feet in respect.

Though, that aura was promptly diminished when Salem glided across the floor, a pleasant joyful tune humming from her lips, the book she'd had Cinder deliver to Team RWBY under her arm. She quickly motioned for her followers to be seated, practically skipping onto her throne as she placed the tome on the table.

Cinder cocked an eyebrow, unused to seeing the Mother of Grimm so… jubilant. She wasn't sure if she was more terrifying as she was now or as usual cold self. But she wasn't entirely comfortable with the fact that it was a question.

"Thank you for your dedication, my friend," she spoke. Her gaze turned to Watts. "And Arthur, do try not to spread such malice. Beacon was a great victory. Thanks to Cinder, the international CCT is down, we have our Fall Maiden and soon so much more, and Ozpin is dead once more."

"And, my lady," Watts replied cautiously, clearly unnerved by their sovereign's uncharacteristic joy. "We still have no Relic."

Salem waved her hand. "For now. Our enemy can be quite clever with his hiding places, but with him gone we can search at our leisure. Besides, Cinder completed a _far_ more important task for me while she was at the school."

Her hand lovingly brushed the book's leather cover, stroking the triad of symbols like they were holy artifacts.

The new Fall Maiden grinned, thrilled that she was receiving the recognition she deserved. "You honor me, your grace. I swear, next time my victory will be absolute in your name. Wendy Marvell will be yours and all who attempt to keep her from you will be reduced to ash."

All at once, the atmosphere turned bleak, all light and heat fleeing save from around the Ophiuchus. Outside, the roaming herds of Grimm shrieked, their minds flooded with agony at their taskmaster's displeasure.

Salem turned towards Cinder, shadows reeving under her black gown, her joyful smile already a distant memory. "Oh? You would not be including Ruby Rose among those to die, would you, my dear?"

Mercury stepped back behind Cinder's chair, cowardly but wise. Emerald, in contrast, took a step closer to her mistress, as if she could somehow defend her if the Mother of Grimm decided she'd trespassed too far. It was useful, but inside the Fall Maiden rankled with insult. She needed to be strong. To be unbeatable.

And yet, thanks to Wendy Marvell and Ruby Rose, she was not.

"She stood in the way of retrieving the enchanter, my lady," Cinder spoke softly, careful to show deference.

Salem's frown did not abate. "I have told you many times that candidates are to be kept alive."

Cinder's eyes widened at that, as did Watts and Tyrian's. Even Hazel's normally stoic face rose slightly at the pronouncement.

"Candidate?" she muttered, doing all in her power to withhold her shock. "Ruby Rose is a candidate?"

"For once, I concur with Cinder," Watts said. "Your grace, her lineage aside, the girl is a child."

"She is a Fairy Tail wizard, one I have waited an eon for," Salem pronounced. "Take care, all of you. Ruby Rose and her teammates are to be brought to me _alive_. I understand that violence may be unavoidable, it is unlikely they will believe you come in peace, but if at all possible, I want them unharmed. Is that understood?"

Cinder seethed, barely keeping flames from sprouting under her hands. She had been disgraced, defeated, made to be _weak_. Without strength and without control. She had understood Wendy, she was crucial to their ultimate goal, but what possible value could Ruby Rose have? Wizard she may have been, there was nothing she possessed that their faction did not already have in superior quality. And yet, Cinder had to forestall vengeance against her… for what? For Salem's word?

Yes. She did. Not only because Teacher was devoted to Salem's ambitions but because she was the head of their little family, the strongest, the one who protected them. As long as they obeyed, they would be cared for, granted strength and power and safety. It was Salem's presence that kept the Grimm from falling upon the castle and tearing them all to pieces and Salem's will that would make them masters of a new world. In return, they owed her their allegiance.

Cinder had learned how the world worked a long time ago. Those with power were feared and in turn, they controlled their lives and those of the weak filth that had not the will to climb the ladder of strength. And honestly, there were far worse masters to serve than Salem. At least she was plain with her intentions. Perhaps she even cared about them as she said.

With those errant thoughts swirling through her mind, the Fall Maiden nodded to her queen's command, just moments after Watts and Hazel. Tyrian took the longest, his worship of his goddess only slightly delayed by his fondness for carnage.

Salem stared pointedly down the table, where the Ophiuchus shrugged. "I'll pass the message along."

"Excellent," the Queen grinned. There was no question that the protector himself would abide by her decree. He was powerful enough to kill any of the huntress whelps in an instant. He could easily exercise enough control to take them alive.

"Now then, we must move forward," Salem continued. "Hazel, head to Mistral and meet with the White Fang. Adam Taurus has proven useful so far, but recent information from our contacts in Atlas have cast doubts upon his suitability as a candidate. Ensure that he and Sienna Khan are both compliant with our goals."

"As you wish."

"Watts, after you have managed Cinder and her subordinates' ascensions, head to Atlas. Your skills will likely prove useful in the current operation."

"What?" Cinder gawked. Between the mention of Emerald and Mercury's ascending, the shock of Watts having skills that would be useful in the Atlas operation, and the utter fury that it wasn't her being sent to assist Teacher, she wasn't sure what part of the proclaimed plan befuddled her most. In the end, she focused on the technical. "Emerald and Mercury are in no shape to survive the Ascension Chamber—"

"Oh, I finished the upgrades just before your little stunt in Vale," Watts interrupted, an oily smirk sliding out from behind his mustache. "Did I neglect to mention that?"

He finished the upgrades? But that meant her acquiring the maiden's power, her entire trip to Beacon was entirely— _argh!_

Cinder flicked a small flare the doctor's way. Nothing his aura couldn't shield him from, Salem would not tolerate actual lethal intent, but it would feel damn good to wipe that smug smile off his face.

Unfortunately, instead of a startled gasp, she watched as the sparks passed right through Watts' head, his skull dissipated into black mist as the fire struck his chair. It reformed a moment later none the worse for wear, his smirk still perfectly in place. The flames scorched the back of his chair for a brief instant before the Ophiuchus opened his maw and sucked them in.

"I, of course, tested it on myself after it cleared preliminary trials," Watts gloated after the blaze was out. "Wouldn't want to lose our new Fall Maiden to something as pitiful as mechanical failure, now would we?"

"How considerate of you to take such a risk," Cinder growled.

"Children, children, please," Tyrian sang, a maniacal cackle rocking his body. "Playtime can wait for when we have all ascended to immortality at our goddess' side! Then, we can truly have some _fun_!"

Both Cinder and Watts glared at the scorpion faunus. Whatever their loathing towards each other, neither was much inclined towards the laughing fanatic.

Salem merely smiled softly at their antics like an indulgent mother. "Your group will remain here by my side, Cinder. Once you have all gone through the chamber, you will need time to acclimate to your new abilities."

"New abilities?" Mercury said, stepping forward, an eager grin across his face. "You mean magic, right?"

Emerald's eyes widened in distress, likely believing the fool would die for his directness. Cinder certainly would have smacked him down if he'd spoken to her like that.

But Salem merely chuckled. "Magic and more, little warrior. If you are strong enough. Even with Watts' improvements to the Ascension Chamber, it is not an easy task to join my Gates. The faint of heart will not survive the evolution."

Mercury snarled. He hefted up his pant leg, revealing the stainless-steel underneath. "Do I look 'faint of heart'?"

Salem and Hazel both took on a look of pity towards the silver-haired boy, the demonic woman even shaking her head morosely. "You poor child. You do know the process will not return your legs?"

"I don't need legs," Mercury shouted furiously. "I've gotten this far without them."

"But with weaponized replacements," Watts noted. "Shoddy weaponized replacements, but I suppose orphans can't be choosers."

Mercury growled at the smug scientist, his handsome pearly white teeth that had once made so many Beacon girls swoon barred like a shark that had smelt prey. Emerald clenched her fists in sympathy at her side.

Surprising herself, so did Cinder.

"Power," Mercury hissed. "Can you give me power?"

Salem nodded. "I can. But I warn you, it will not bring you peace."

"No such thing."

The Queen of the Grimm sighed. "When we are done, there will be."

She turned to the scorpion faunus. "Tyrian, the Spring Maiden can wait. Hunt down Ruby, Wendy, and the others and bring them—"

"No." The Ophiuchus suddenly interjected. "Let me."

Tyrian pouted. "Do you doubt my ability, my lord?"

"Not at all," the hooded figure replied, turning his gaze to Salem. "But my nose is better. Besides, fairies have a habit of running into each other. You're strong, Tyrian, but if they were able to reunite with say Titania, you would be overwhelmed by their combined efforts. I will not."

Hazel raised an eyebrow. "Counting Marvell and the one we have eyes on in Atlas, there are only three more Fairy Spheres we have yet to locate. The chances of them discovering another are minuscule."

"So were the odds of one of them just happening to be above Beacon Tower. Either way, I have the best nose. I am the best suited to hunt them down."

Salem held his gaze for a moment before sighing. "You are not wrong. Very well, take your partner and bring them back. With any luck, I can use my connection with Blake to drive them towards you. Tyrian can remain here to assist in Cinder's team's training or be deployed should something else arise."

Tyrian moaned his disappointment, slumping down into his chair. The Ophiuchus nodded gratefully.

Salem smiled and rose to her feet, the rest of the group following her example. "Thanks to your efforts, Beacon has fallen. And soon, the other academies and their kingdoms will follow. One more step towards the unity of the world. And a new world where the Grimm shall be no more."

Cinder grinned. One more step towards a world where she would be strong.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

"Okay, so let me get this straight," Nora proclaimed. She pointed her fingers straight at Qrow and Taiyang. "You two have been working for Professor Ozpin, who is maybe not actually dead, as part of some ancient conspiracy along with the Professor Goodwitch and the other academy headmasters to protect these maidens and Relic things from falling into the hands of this Salem, the master of the Grimm, to keep her from destroying the world?"

Qrow shrugged. "Pretty much, yeah."

"I'm retired though, from that stuff at least" Taiyang hastily added, catching Yang's stunned expression. "I have been since Summer passed."

"But you've known about magic since we were kids," Yang muttered, calmer since Blake had arrived, the partners sitting side by side next to Sun on the couch. Still, a heartbroken look of betrayal crossed the huntress' face. "You knew this stuff was out there, and you didn't tell us."

"We could have been so much awesome stuff!" Ruby added. "Think of all the Grimm butt we could have kicked, the people we could have saved."

"Maybe not," Blake put forward. "We've all seen how much trouble Team JNPR's had learning magic in Remnant's ethernano level. Who knows if we would have become as proficient as we are now even with foreknowledge."

Ruby sunk into a pout. "I would've still had my eyes. Which would have been really useful to know about. I've barely had time to learn how to do anything with them!"

"You can certainly do more than I can. Oz just taught me how to turn into a bird."

"What, Uncle Qrow?"

"Nothing," the older huntsman muttered, before pointing a finger at his nieces. "But let me get this straight. You three, plus the mini-Ice Queen, got transported to another world, by a mysterious book given to you by Salem and powered by Ruby's eyes. While there, you just happened to run into a guild of wizards—"

"The _best_ guild of wizards," Yang added.

"Right, but you proceeded to learn magic, go on wizard jobs, nearly get killed by a demon, get saved by the creator of said book, and then _accidentally_ using it to come home."

"Pretty much, yeah," Ruby replied with a shrug. "But, more importantly—"

She whirled around on Wendy and Carla, who leaned back from the crimson cloaked girl's gleeful face. "Let me get this straight. You guys went to war with Tartaros, you got Dragonforce, Lucy lost Aquarius and summoned the Celestial Spirit King, Gray's dad came back from the dead and then died making him a Devil Slayer, everyone's dragons were inside them all along, the guild disbanded for a year, you joined Lamia Scale until Natsu came back on Gildarts and Laxus' level and everyone reformed the guild, _Zeref_ invaded with an empire, Natsu turned out to be a super demon but Lucy rewrote his book to erase that part of him so he wouldn't die when Zeref died, and then the entire kingdom came together to defeat _Acnologia_!"

"Um… pretty much?" Wendy confirmed. "Then a year later we went on the Hundred Year Quest to seal the five God Dragons and… and…"

"And then the White Witch attacked," Carla finished sullenly, placing a comforting paw on her charge's arm. "She had the ability to drain and control magic, from anyone, through their power control their minds. She believed in something called the White Doctrine, that no magic above a certain strength could be permitted. For that, she came for the God Dragons and Fairy Tail. She took control of the entire guild."

"Well, not the entire guild," Wendy noted, water welling in her eyes. "We were away on the quest, and I never saw Juvia in her group. Maybe she escaped beforehand, or been warned? Erza mentioned Jellal had been looking into the White Witch, when he saw us off to Guiltina, but he never showed up at the fight either—"

"Wendy," Ruby said, the excitable girl from mere moments ago wiped from her face. "Are you okay?"

The Sky Dragon Slayer took in a deep breath, wiping the tears from her eyes before they could fall. She forced a smile onto her face. "Don't worry. I'm fine."

Ruby looked at her friend silently for a moment. Then, she engulfed her and her Exceed partner in a massive hug. Yang and Blake came forward and joined the embrace, all five Fairy Tail members sharing their suffering. After all, no friend should have to bear such a weight alone, even if they could.

The others watched the display of affection in silence for several seconds. However, when it started to encroach on a full minute, Jaune politely coughed to get their attention. The five girls sheepishly came apart and resumed their seats around the living room.

"Alright," Sun said, clapping his hands. "Anything else we need to 'get straight'?"

"There is one thing," Jaune noted, his eyes narrowed in thought. "If you were fighting this White Witch on your world, how did you end up on Remnant?"

Wendy shrugged. "I don't know. She ambushed us after she gathered the power of all five dragons. If Sitara hadn't found us first and warned us, we would have been completely blindsided."

"You met Sitara?" Ruby grinned. "How is she? Did she go looking for the guild—"

"Ruby," Qrow interjected. "Priorities."

"Oh, right. Sorry."

Wendy managed a small smile. "She'd been researching dark magics that Zeref had left behind, but the White Witch attacked her and stole the blueprints for FACE she'd scavenged after Tartaros fell. When she realized that she was planning to use them to enact the White Doctrine all over the world, she came looking for us for help. Apparently, you told her a lot of good things about us."

Ruby blushed and rubbed the back of her head. "Hehehehe… well, they were all true."

"Ruby."

"Right, right, sorry. Keep going, Wendy."

"There isn't much I can keep going to," the Sky Dragon Slayer revealed. "The White Witch attacked me first. The only reason I survived was because Carla saw the attack coming in her Future Vision and pushed me out of the way."

"But I wasn't fast enough," Carla sighed. "Wendy survived, but we were both critically wounded."

"Makes sense," Qrow nodded. "Take out the healer first thing so they can't fix up everyone else up. It's basic battle strategy."

"It's an asshole strategy," Yang growled.

Wendy shrugged. "It worked. I was barely conscious, too out of it to even heal Carla, or Natsu when the witch poisoned him. To keep us safe, Lucy sealed us in a Fairy Sphere."

"That makes sense. Even if Ozpin was a wizard, only a Fairy Tail member can sense the power of a Fairy Sphere, and even then it's hard to get a real reading on it," Blake surmised. "We were lucky Ruby's Fairy Glitter made it think it was safe to deposit you."

"But how would they end up here?" Ren inquired. "Perhaps their bodies healed from the time they spent within the sphere, but from how you've described it, the magic isn't capable of interdimensional travel."

Immediately, Wendy's eyes widened, her brown orbs shivering with dread.

Ruby raised an eyebrow, looking concernedly over her friend. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"… nothing," Wendy muttered. "Just… a theory. Nothing important though."

"Um, okay?" Qrow replied. He looked over the rest of the kids. "In the meantime, it really doesn't matter how you got here. You're here now, and we're still at war."

Jaune cocked an eyebrow. "You and Ozpin had Pyrrha keep us in the dark. Why do you want our help now?"

"Because you're all we got," Qrow declared. He strode over to the window and gazed out into the deceptively sunny day. "The attack on Beacon did more than just take out Oz. Glynda's tied up rebuilding the school, and James' forces are on shaky ground with the other kingdoms since his toys went haywire. With the CCT down, international coordination is impossible. The other academies are vulnerable. We need all the help we can get."

"But this isn't coercion," Taiyang told them earnestly. "You've all seen what these people are capable of. They play for keeps and they're not going to care that you're kids. They will _kill_ you if they get the chance. No one will think less of you if you don't want to give them that chance."

All seven huntsmen and the two wizards shared significant looks, some worried, some eager, and some cautious.

But in the end, they all rose, determined.

"Thank you, dad," Ruby said, her eyes shimmering like steel. "But General Ironwood told us something similar back at the coliseum. We didn't back down then, and we're not going to back down now."

"Atlas is one of the most well-protected places in the world," Jaune noted.

"And Vacuo is a hive of scum and villainy," Ren added. "Infiltrating there would be difficult."

"Which means Salem's next target is Haven, right in the middle of Mistral's capital," Nora finished, dead serious for once. "Where Pyrrha is right now."

"We're coming with you," Jaune declared.

Qrow shot the three a respectful smirk. "Corny, but I'll take it."

"Yeah!" Yang snarled, jumping to her feet, with a pump of her remaining arm. "Let's hunt these bastards down! Right, Blake?... Blake?"

Everyone turned to the cat faunus, who while still determined, grimaced as she glanced away. "Haven needs to be defended. I agree with that but… I don't think I can come with you guys."

…

"What?"

Ruby jumped forward, stepping between her sister and her partner. She'd already figured out the basics of how Yang had lost her arm but had hoped (naively) that maybe Yang would understand it was an accident and forgive Blake and they could all go back to being besties again. When she'd seen them hugging when Blake had arrived, her hopes had gone up.

But the fire behind Yang's crimson eyes suggested she'd gotten ahead of herself.

"Blake, what are you talking about?" Ruby asked, curious herself. "You're always gung-ho about hunting down the bad guys. They used the White Fang to attack Beacon, they'll probably do the same to Haven."

"I am. I agree that we need to stop them," she quickly clarified. "But I don't think I can be any help to you guys as I am now. I have no weapon, all Loke's power is used up, and whatever strength I can draw on from the Grimm… well, it's clearly not an asset."

Ruby cringed, her eyes involuntarily flickering to Yang's stump, an action that did not go unnoticed by her sister, who immediately flinched away, filling the red hooded girl with guilt.

Fortunately, it prompted Yang to take a deep breath, her eyes fading back to violet.

"Blake, can I talk to you for a second?" she asked calmly.

The black-haired huntress gulped but rose to her feet. The pair set out for upstairs, leaving the rest to stew.

"Ruby," Wendy's voice drew the silver-eyed girl back to her friend. "That Cinder woman knew who I was. She knew what Fairy Tail was."

"Well, yeah," Ruby replied. "Ozpin knew about them. So, Salem probably does too and told her."

"But how did she know about the Fairy Sphere?" Wendy queried. "She didn't know where it was, but she knew what it was. How?"

"Well… oh!" Ruby grinned. "Maybe there are other spheres! Maybe the others are on Remnant too and they've met Ozpin before, helped him fight the good fight against Salem and… no, wait, that doesn't work, they would have come and found us then. Unless there's a lot more to this time discrepancy between dimensions than we thought. Aw crud…"

"I hope there are aren't any more spheres."

Ruby cocked an eyebrow. "What? Why?"

"Wendy?" Carla spoke worriedly.

Wendy gazed down at her bandaged hands. "I hope the others are still at home… because I'm not sure there's a way back."

"What? That's crazy talk," Nora exclaimed, the others all tilting their heads at the Fairy Tail wizard. "Ruby and the others got back here from Earthland. Of course, there's a way for you to go back."

Ruby's eyes narrowed. She dashed over and knelt before her friend, gently taking her friend's palms within her own, the crimson guild mark clearly visible. "She's right. Remember, I thought that we would be trapped away from home too. You made me a promise, that I would see the people I care about again. And you were right. Because Fairy Tail does the impossible."

Wendy's head rose just a fraction, enough for Ruby to crack a small smile and look her right in the face, silver eyes to brown orbs.

"You will see the guild again. You have my word as a Fairy Tail wizard."

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

"What are you doing?" Yang demanded, as Blake softly shut the door to her room behind them. Posters of boy bands and tossed about motorcycle manuals littered the walls of her childhood domain, though she couldn't help but feel it belonged to a different girl. A girl who dreamed of two mothers, one who wanted her and one who might not have. She'd lost both of them certainly.

Just as Yang felt she was on the brink of losing Blake.

"I can't help," her partner said matter-of-factly, walking around to sit on the bed. "You of all people should understand that."

Yang bit back a snarl, inwardly cursing the absent weight from her right side. Part of her understood Blake's words, remembering the visceral _squelch_ as her arm was torn off by her friend's talons, the feeling of utter powerlessness as all her hard-earned strength proved absolutely useless. When she was whole, she had only been fit to be beaten, and now a piece of her was gone and it was never coming back. But the other half of her was angry, furious. She caught the looks the others sent her way when they thought she couldn't see and sometimes when they knew she could. Their eyes were trained on her stump, full of pity for the broken girl.

Yang was _not_ broken. She refused to be broken. She would not be the same scared little girl who waited at home until her mother didn't come back. She was a Fairy Tail wizard and there was a job to do. She would stand by her friends, just as they stood by her.

"This isn't your fault," she assured her partner, holding up her stump. "This was an accident. It was a high-stress situation and you panicked when you thought that guy with the glowing sword might get a lucky shot."

"Adam," Blake muttered.

Yang blinked. "Adam? Wait, like 'Adam'? Your ex?"

Blake nodded. "His semblance is like yours, only he stores power in his sword. With the amount he had, he would have killed you if I hadn't transformed."

Yang glanced away. "Well... maybe. But you can just figure it out on the way to Haven. We'll all help you."

"It took Elfman years to gain control of a Full-Body Takeover," Blake reminded her. "If I'm going to learn fast enough to actually be useful when this war with Salem really gets going, I can't take it slow. Which means I'm going to lose control more than once, and that means I can't be around anyone when I do it."

"So you're running away!"

Blake recoiled as if she'd been slapped. Yang instantly regretted her words, looking down in shame. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

"You meant it."

"No, I didn't. If you were running away, then you wouldn't have come here. But you did, because you're our friend. Because you're my friend."

"You did," Blake sighed. "And you're not entirely wrong. If Sun hadn't been here to corral me, I'm not sure my courage would have held all the way here. I didn't think you could ever forgive me. I don't think I ever will."

Yang smirked, coming to sit beside her friend. "We're Fairy Tail wizards, partner. Sun helped you along, but you came on your own. And would have even if he wasn't there. You're not as much of a coward as you think you are."

Blake didn't mirror her expression, her mouth merely falling into a deeper frown. "Maybe. But I'm still a failure. I couldn't stop the White Fang and I couldn't protect you."

Yang's eyes narrowed. "I don't need protecting."

For a few moments, the pair sat together in silence, simply soaking in each other's company, both the good and the ill. Their partnership had never been easy, but it was one they both stood by, to the ends of every world.

At last, Blake rose to her feet. "I know a place. A desert full of Grimm. If I go far enough into it, I won't encounter any people. I'll get control of my powers and meet everyone else at Haven."

Yang cocked an eyebrow. "Everyone else?"

Blake's eyes widened. "I mean, I'll see you there too. Because you'll go with them. And be with everyone else, on the road to Haven. The very dangerous road to Haven filled with Grimm and bandits, and—"

"Just tell me what you're thinking," Yang groaned, leaning back against the bedroom wall, already dreading the response she knew was coming. "Everyone has been shooting me the same kind of looks. You don't think I should go."

The cat faunus glanced at her stump and sighed. "I'm sorry. But what's happened to you, the… the…"

"Dismemberment."

"… that. It isn't a small thing, no matter what any of us wish. Even putting aside whatever you must be going through, your weight distribution is completely different and you're down one of your main weapons."

"I have magic. I'll make do. I can't leave Ruby and the others to do it alone just because I got to work out some kinks in my fighting style—"

"Kinks?!" Blake shot to her feet, her amber eyes staring down incredulously at her partner. "Yang, you've lost an arm! If you're somehow handling this better than any of us can possibly imagine, fine, you've always been amazing, I'll buy it. But things have changed."

"I know that!" Yang roared, launching herself face to face with her partner, pink flames flickering across her blond hair as her eyes blazed a devilish crimson that she'd desperately tried to hold back. "I'm well aware that things have _fucking_ changed, Blake. The school's gone, Weiss is gone, my arm is gone! Life sucks and now we've got some hell demon running the show and a guildmate mysteriously falling out of the sky. But I'm not going to let any of that stop me. I'll take everything life throws at me and come out swinging, just like my semblance and just like Natsu."

Blake paled for a moment, taking a startled step back. For a few seconds, fear trickled through Yang, fear that her temper had done her in, had frightened her partner with the monster within so much that she'd bolt right out the door.

Instead, Blake ran forward and pushed her, the blonde staggering back several steps. Yang, her anger turning to outrage, made to respond in kind, plant a right hook into her partner's stomach…

Only to get no response from a limb that no longer existed.

Blake pushed her down onto the bed and for a moment Yang's mind was in turmoil. Why was her friend attacking her? Why was she coming in for another blow—

Except that blow morphed into a hug and everything clicked into place, memories of a meeting in an empty classroom before the dance floating through her vision, her eyes fading back to purple.

"I'm not asking you to stop," Blake murmured. "But you're trying to rush things, just like we did when we first got to Earthland. Natsu and Erza helped us to slow down then, just like you helped me to slow down when we were hunting the White Fang. You couldn't have fought me off just now, your instincts are for a body that doesn't exist anymore. Whether you want to come up with a new fighting style or get a prosthetic like General Ironwood is up to you, but you can't go into this halfcocked. Or else you'll just be someone that Ruby and the others will have to protect along the way."

In other words, a burden.

Damn it.

"I'll stay back," Yang reluctantly agreed, returning the hug. The two rose, mutual reluctant smiles on their faces. "Dad will probably be thrilled to have me in the house, the dork."

Blake chuckled. "Don't knock it. Having parents who are happy to see you is nothing to sneeze at. I know mine would have a few choice words for me."

Yang cocked an eyebrow. "You have parents?"

"Um, yes. Why would I not?"

"I don't know. I always assumed you were some super orphan taken in by the White Fang. Ruby and I have bet going on whether it was when you were a baby or if you were the lone survivor of the massacre of your village."

Blake smacked her face into her hand. "I get that you thought I was a human but really? A faunus named Belladonna doesn't ring any bells?"

"Uh… no. Why would… it…"

Faint memories of history classes dad had forced her not to sleep through suddenly rose to the top her mind, specifically about the end of the Faunus Rights' Revolution and the rise of the original White Fang.

"Wait, your parents are _those_ Belladonnas?"

Blake nodded. "Yup."

"And you sided with Sienna Khan when the split happened?"

"Yup."

"Oh, wow," Yang muttered, her eyes widened. "And I thought my family dinners were awkward."

"Weiss still has us both beat," Blake did her best to joke. "Of course, I haven't talked to mine in… years. So, yeah, not my finest work."

Whatever else was going to be said was cut off by a series of knocks at the door. Blake walked over and opened the entrance, revealing a nervous Sun.

"We, uh, heard yelling," the monkey faunus muttered. "Taiyang said it would be weird if he came up."

"Ah, he remembered," Yang grinned. When the others looked to her for an explanation, she shrugged. "What? I've had company in here before. Did you think you were the first person I've ever had on my bed?"

Blake cheeks lit up red. "I'm… going to… going to…"

"Run," Yang teased, a little-hearted smirk on her face.

Her partner glared at her, but immediately dashed past Sun and out the door. The monkey faunus cocked an eyebrow at the other blonde. "So… are you guys okay?"

Yang chuckled. "Oh, what a gentleman. You didn't listen in?"

"Some of it was unavoidable, but I made an effort not to intrude. The most I caught was you're staying behind to train? Are you going to be alright?"

"I'll be fine," she assured him. "A guy named Macao showed me a few tricks back at the guild that I never really practiced, and Wendy's story gave me some ideas for a few more. It'll take some finetuning, but I should be able to catch up with the others."

She narrowed her eyes and glanced at the opened doorway. "I'm more concerned about her. She's going off to train alone."

"Oh," Sun noted, cringing with worry. "Yeah, I get why, but… that might not end well."

"Yup. She has a bad habit of isolating herself," Yang said. "Which is why you're going with her."

"What?" Sun shouted. "I mean, yeah, sure, gladly, but…"

"But what?"

The monkey faunus looked away in shame. "Are you sure I'm the best person for the job? I mean, the last time I tried to help…"

His eyes flickered to her stump, and Yang could only sigh. She planted a comforting hand on his shoulder as his earnest blue orbs rose to meet her eyes.

"This was an accident," she declared. "You and Neptune had no way of knowing you'd met the world's first friendly Grimm and hell breaking loose all around you was certainly a good reason for an itchy trigger finger. You tried to help, and it went wrong. Now get back on your feet and help for real. She's going to need someone to remind her she's not the worst person in the world."

"She does seem to do that more often than she should," Sun replied. He swallowed and managed to form a hint of his usual rascally smile. "I'll do whatever I can."

"Good," Yang grinned. "Now then, let's get some grub. Saving the world isn't a job for an empty stomach and I feel like I haven't eaten in a week."

"Ren and your dad are gonna make dinner. But I've got an extra banana or two if you need something to hold you over."

"Seriously?"

"What? Stereotype or not, they're freaking delicious."

Yang chortled. "You know, one of these days you're going to meet a certain blue talking cat who loves fish. I am really looking forward to that day."

* * *

 **Lots of foreshadowing this chapter. I wouldn't be surprised if most of my 'big twists' have been figured out at this point. Wendy has certainly figured out one of them. But hopefully, I've still got a few unexpected cards up my sleeve and the emotional fallout of the others will make up for their early discovery.**

 **Also, for those paying attention to Wendy's story, you'll notice there have been some alterations to the White Witch events, specifically Juvia's absent from them as opposed to her crucial role in the recent canon. This is intentional and will be important to later in the story.**

 **Less crucial observation, I was very much surprised by how much I enjoyed writing Blake and Yang's talk here. I've always preferred them as a Brotp, but after getting into them here, I can better understand why so many people find them so appealing as romantic partners. I still like them better platonic, but it is quite eyeopening.**

 **An extra huge thank you to my patrons: ArcherMcMuffin, Gregg Tracton, Keith Traction, StabKingPro, Annaya Chan, Nora Okonus, and Paula mandel.**

 **Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!**

 **Go Forth and Conquer!**


	16. Chapter 15

**If you wish to support me and my college tuition, please check out my P a treon for future chapter summaries, story ideas and more: p a Treon.(c om) (backslash) themaster4444**

 **Beta-ed by xenosaiyan**

* * *

"For it is in our endurance, that we achieve immortality. Through this, we remain a paragon of kindness and stability to comfort all from the cold. Infinite in patience and unbound by tragedy. I release your soul, and by my shoulder, warm thee."

Wendy shuddered as Taiyang removed his hand from her shoulder, a warm feeling of strength spreading through her body, a light blue energy field rising around her body before fading just as quickly.

"How do you feel?" Carla inquired, worriedly glancing over her partner. "Everything alright?"

Clutching her bandaged hands over and over, Wendy grinned. "Yes. Better than okay. It feels like… I don't know. Stronger. Like I'm stronger."

She and Ruby (well more like her, Carla, Weiss, and Lucy, but Ruby was in the room too… eating cookies…) had mused on the differences between magic and aura before. The two were obviously completely different energies, that much was clear just from their sources. Magic required a wizard to take in ethernano from the air around them, at times putting them at risk of Magic Deficiency Disease if they were deprived of it too quickly. Aura, however, came from within and even when depleted could never be destroyed, as it was the awakening of a person's very soul. They each had their own advantages and disadvantages. If a person had a large enough stock of ethernano and an origin capable of holding it, they could perform utterly incredible feats of magic, but if they had little fuel or simply did not have an origin or magic of significant strength, there wasn't much they could do. Aura and semblances were comparatively more tame than the mightiest of mysticisms, but they provided a constant of strength that was far greater than the majority of Earthland's practitioners.

The Sky Dragon Slayer had been content with only having magic, she wasn't a greedy person and she was already lucky enough to have been blessed with a wonderful teacher and versatile style. But once Taiyang had spoken his chant it was almost as if her body had finally been woken up from a long sleep. Like her muscles hadn't been stiff exactly but hadn't been stretched as much as they could have been, and now they were humming like a bird at the dawn of spring. It was absolutely incredible, like one of her strengthening enchantments except with no strain on her magical energy reserves.

Taiyang smiled at her as he sat down on the opposite couch. Ruby and Yang were speaking upstairs while Blake and Sun were packing for their trip. Ren was making dinner, so only Jaune and Nora remained in the living room. Wendy wasn't exactly sure why Qrow had left the house, but he and Taiyang had shared a hushed conversation before he left. Of course, given her enhanced senses, the Sky Dragon Slayer had unwilling overheard said conversation (stupid super hearing, eavesdropping was rude!), though she had no idea what risk Qrow's semblance posed to the rest of them if he stayed too long.

The blond huntsman gestured to her bandaged arms. "Those should be fine in a few days. Aura doesn't do too much for on the spot healing other than mending small cuts but give it enough time to work and it'll patch you up fine."

"Thank you so much Mr. Xiao-Long," Wendy replied, her smile wide like the child she often forgot she was. "So…um… how do I get a semblance?"

Taiyang shrugged. "Varies. With me and Ruby it just activated during training one day while with Yang we had the most harrowing first haircut of all time. Sometimes you just need to keep at it while other times it takes something traumatic."

"I was struck by lightning," Nora offered, a massive grin on her face. "It was a crazy Thursday."

Carla raised an eyebrow. "How lovely. I don't suppose there is any history of a semblance activating instantly?"

Taiyang's smile disappeared. "Qrow's did."

Jaune sighed. "Lucky guy."

"Don't be so sure."

Jaune cocked an eyebrow, but in the end merely turned to Wendy and Carla. "So, why didn't you guys have Ruby and the others unlock your aura back on Earthland?"

"They said they didn't know how," Wendy replied. She glanced at Taiyang. "I'm guessing there is more to it than just saying some words."

The older man nodded. "It's a high-level technique. Most huntsmen only learn how to do it in their final year at the academies."

Jaune tilted his head. "Pyrrha knew how. She unlocked mine in the Emerald Forest."

"That's because she was Pyrrha, dummy," Nora teased, delivering a light smack to her leader's shoulder, though he still recoiled from it. "She's like, a super mega ultra-prodigy. She was years ahead of all of us. Heck, remember that time Professor Goodwitch said she was already as good as the average huntsman?"

"It wasn't enough to beat Cinder," Jaune mused glumly.

Nora's smile flickered, like a candle that had been slashed by the wind, but in a few moments she seemed to put on a new grin, though this one looked a tad forced. "Yeah, but Cinder cheated with that super magic. If they were on an even playing field, Pyrrha totally would have won!"

"I wouldn't be so sure," Taiyang noted. "If this Cinder is a member of Salem's inner circle and the one who put Amber on death's door, she's likely as strong as any member of Team STRQ ever was. And we're… we were far better than any _average_ huntsman."

That last comment, spoken without a hint of arrogance but with subdued resignation, finally put out Nora's grin.

"Besides," The older man continued. "In the end, it doesn't matter if it's an even playing field or not. Part of a battle is to set the conditions so that they favor you. There's no such thing as cheating in a fight to the death."

Wendy glanced downward, remembering all too well her own experiences that proved Taiyang's words true. From Irene's body-switching to the White Witch's mind control, most of the foes she and her friends had proved unable to defeat outright had neglected to fight them fair and square. If there was such a thing.

"Hmm… alright then," Nora muttered. "So the next time Cinder shows up, we all jump her! Yeah! She'll be black and blue before she has the chance to launch a single fireball! Right, Jaune?"

"Um, yes?"

"Perfect!" she cheered. "Now then, we're going to need full stomachs if we're going to get our magic before we leave. So let's go check if Ren's finished yet!"

"He started ten minutes ago."

"Details, details, let's go!"

Nora rushed off into the kitchen, though Jaune noticeably hung back, chuckling lightly before he took a seat in one of the living room chairs, letting out a long, subdued breath.

Carla turned to Taiyang. "I assume that aura can be unlocked for non-humans as well? Non-humans and non-faunus, I mean?"

Taiyang shrugged. "Sure. Zwei has his."

"Zwei?" Carla's eyes widened. "The dog that defeated two mechanized war robots? The one that demolished _five_ buildings? He's real? I thought Ruby and Yang just made him up."

"Well, Dr. Oobleck helped with the robots," Taiyang explained. "The buildings were all him though. Qrow wanted to test his effectiveness as a siege weapon and he went a little wild."

And according to my future vision, he'll be coming into this room any second," Carla whispered. "You know, perhaps we should unlock my aura upstairs? I can fly, maybe freeing my soul from a higher altitude will help unlock my semblance faster."

"Sure thing," Taiyang replied, a tiny playful smirk flashing across his face that reminded Wendy of Yang when she was in a pranking mood.

"Perfect," Carla declared, sprouting her wings. "Wendy?"

"I'll be there in a moment," the blue-haired girl replied. She eyed Jaune, whose shoulders were slumped with worry, his eyes staring blankly at his empty hands. "I'm going to stay here for a bit."

Carla cocked an eyebrow, but followed her partner's gaze and nodded. "Alright, but be careful. The dog might be here any second."

Wendy couldn't help but giggle at her friend's warning, unable to tell if she was joking or being serious as usual. The Exceed and Taiyang left for upstairs right after.

"So," she began cautiously, unsure if she was overstepping herself. "Are you okay?"

Jaune flinched away from her. "I'm fine. I mean, I'm a bit worried about the trip to Haven, most of the trains only run on the capital's side of the continent so we'll have to take a ship to one of the western ports and walk the rest of the way, which will take months."

"Really? Can't we just take a boat all the way there? Or one of those airships Ruby told me about?"

"Airships need the CCT to guide them into port, and Beacon Tower is currently a pile of molten slag, so that's out. Any boat that'd take us to an eastern or northern port like Argus would have to risk deep-sea Grimm like Leviathan. Which means the companies need to get major protection which means the passengers have to pay major money. Which we do not have, at least not for six people."

"Oh," Wendy noted, trying to keep her glee at having to use minimal transportation hidden. "Ruby always said that the Grimm were all over, but I didn't realize they restricted transportation so much. I mean, that Wyvern at the Fall was one of the stronger ones and Ruby and Weiss were able to defeat it without too much trouble."

"Ruby and Weiss are also incredible. I can count the number of huntsmen who can do what they can on one hand," Jaune praised, a worshipful smile flickering across his face. "No, the big problem with the Grimm isn't so much that they're powerful, though some really are, but that they don't end. We could kill a million of them, and the next day there'd be two million more. The only way to stave them off is to build up enough defenses that they won't risk an attack and then keep everyone happy enough that they don't do it anyway. And that's without some fire-breathing bitch coming in and… sorry."

"No, it's okay," Wendy quickly assured him. "Are you sure you're alright? If you need to talk about it, I'm here to listen."

Jaune shook his head and narrowed his gaze at his hands. "I'm fine. You, Pyrrha, and Ruby were the ones who fought Cinder. I wasn't any help to anyone. Hell, I should be asking you if you're alright."

Wendy smiled and raised her bandaged hands. "They'll be good as new soon."

"Good, good," Jaune muttered. "Thank you, by the way. For saving Pyrrha."

"Any friend of Ruby's is a friend of mine. But… are you okay?"

Jaune sighed. "Why do you keep asking me that? I wasn't even there. Pyrrha sent me away. She knew that I couldn't do anything to help her, weak, useless piece of garbage I am… she sent me away. She could have died. If Ruby had been a _second_ slower or if you hadn't shown up when you did… she would have _died_ , right after she'd ki… all that talk about hating being alone, calling me out on my asinine macho pride and she sent me away so that she could fight a battle she knew she couldn't win."

"She wanted you to survive," Wendy said softly. "She shouldn't have tried to die for her friends, but she didn't want you to die with her."

"Oh, I know," Jaune growled. "That's the worst part. She was right. If she'd taken me with her, I would have died, and her along with me. And it is _infuriating_. Can you understand that? To have worked so hard and in the end to still be so _weak,_ to be _useless_? Even if I do unlock my semblance, even if I do learn magic… what does it matter if I can't kill the people trying to hurt my friends?"

Wendy frowned. "Don't think like that."

"What? That I'm weak?"

"Yes. But also that you have to kill people to protect your friends," the Sky Dragon Slayer explained. "Not being able to kill people doesn't make you weak or useless. Violence is not inherently strength."

Jaune cocked an eyebrow. "I'm a huntsman. The job is literally to kill Grimm."

"Which is more important to you? Killing Grimm or protecting people?"

"They're one and the same!"

"But you might not have the same aptitude for them," Wendy pointed out. "Trust me, I know what it's like to think strength is only in defeating your enemies. To think that not being as powerful as your friends makes you useless."

Jaune sighed, plopped back into his seat, all rage gone from his body. "How? You… you're amazing. You took down a maiden one on one."

"I couldn't always," the wizard mused, remembering her numerous struggles against insurmountable power, from her swift defeat to Azuma on Tenrou Island to her relentless but ultimately hopeless duel against Cherria in the Grand Magic Games. And yet, she also recalled how she'd saved Erza from Cobra's poison, and boosted Natsu and Gajeel in their battle against the Dorma Anim in Edolas. "But even after I learned Dragonforce, I was never the most powerful of my friends. But I was always able to find a way to protect them, whether through healing, strengthening, or transferring new aspects to them so they could defend themselves from other foes."

Jaune cocked an eyebrow. "Other aspects?"

"Dragon Slayer, Demon Slayer, things like that. Though I'd need someone who has it naturally around to copy it from and even then, it wouldn't last long," she noted. "My point is, not everyone is suited to offensive magic, and that's alright."

"Is it?"

"Well, Sir Warrod doesn't have any attack magic, so yes."

"Who?"

"One of the Four Gods of Ishgar and a founder of Fairy Tail."

"Oh," Jaune replied. "That's… impressive."

Wendy hopped up and came to his side, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. Just because your strength isn't like everyone else's doesn't mean it isn't there."

"Maybe," Jaune sighed. "I just… I want to be able to help them. I don't want to be the idiot stuck in a tree that they have to leave themselves open to save. They're priceless to me, and I can't be the thing that costs them their lives. I want to be able to keep them safe."

"You will," Wendy says. "But you can't let yourself wallow in what's happened. You have to move forward."

A small smile, genuine and sweet, bloomed across Jaune's face, a warm chuckle resonating around the room. "Man, between you and Ruby, I really have to wonder how many fifteen-year-olds are secretly super wise sages."

"A sage?" Wendy's eyes widened, her head shaking frantically from side to side. "Oh, no, no, no, no, I'm not really wise. I just… do my best. Just like everyone else in the guild has… taught me."

The girl's embarrassment suddenly fell to melancholy, recalling her own situation. She'd move forward, she'd have to, but she had no illusions about her chances of seeing the rest of the guild, her family, ever again. At best, she was trapped in another world, and at worst… at worst she'd lost everyone but Carla. Maybe the others had been put in Fairy Spheres as well, scattered across Remnant, but she'd never ask them to be stuck in this predicament with her.

But she forced a smile back on her face before Jaune could notice. Yes, she may have lost a great deal, but she didn't know for sure if her worst-case scenario was right. For all she knew, they'd get the book back from Salem and be back in the guildhall before lunch, depending on how the interdimensional time difference actually worked

But, if worst came to worst, she was not alone. Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang, friends she'd been certain she'd never see again, had been returned to her. She'd get to laugh and live alongside them. And if she couldn't go home, she was confident that she could make a new home on Remnant.

" _Arf! Arf!_ "

Wendy barely had time to turn to the sound of the chipper barking before a little ball of grey full and muscle leapt into her. The young wizard stumbled for balance before tumbling to the floor, a cheerful corgi standing atop her chest, merrily licking at her face.

"Huh, guess Carla really can see the future," Jaune grinned, all trace of his despair evaporated.

"Hahaha!" Wendy laughed, curling her arms around the exuberant Zwei, squishing his soft fur onto her skin.

She would survive this. She would move forward. Her eternal adventure was far from over.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

"I am talking about the good of Atlas! Our entire kingdom!"

"That is a load of garbage and you know it."

"I beg your pardon!"

"Jacques, will you please just hear me out."

Weiss sighed, leaning back against the pure white halls of her family mansion, standing just outside her father's office as his argument with General Ironwood echoed throughout the building. At first, she'd taken the opportunity to stand outside the room, learn exactly what her father's latest grip was with the world, some sort of upcoming escalation to the current dust embargo evidentially, but as the conversation dragged on, the two men's stubbornness simply became tedious. Really, her father had summoned her out from her room, the least he could do was finish his other appointments on time, this tirade was already cutting into her summoning practice far too much.

She'd been holed up in her room in the few days since her return, using the excuse of exhaustion from the battle to keep others from pressing her. She had no idea why or how Wendy and Carla had been in that Fairy Sphere above Beacon, but she could figure enough to know that there would be more battles ahead,

"They're still going?" Weiss turned her head to the familiar voice, Whitley appearing with a pair of hot coco mugs in his hands. "I'd thought they'd be done by now."

He offered her one of the piping hot cups, a gesture she gladly accepted. "Thank you."

"Thank Klein," her little brother replied. "He was the one who made it. I just caught him on the way up and took it the rest of the way."

"Manual labor, little brother?" Weiss smirked teasingly. "I didn't think you were one for such tasks."

Whitley chuckled. "Like I told you before, I didn't stop growing after you left for Beacon."

Weiss raised an eyebrow at the remark, detecting a note of condescension in his voice. It might have just been a natural thing, an attempt at good-natured teasing with only their father's acidic manners to base itself off. Or it might have genuine disdain slipping through… no. No, that couldn't be it. Whitley could be a bit smug at times and he was certainly no fan of Winter's, but he was not their father. He was her little brother, who she'd done her best to shield from their parents'… displeasure.

"Though I do have to ask, why on Remnant did you have him buy you thirty-six rolls of duct tape?"

Weiss' eyes momentarily widened before she schooled her expression, contemplating exactly how to respond. She and the others hadn't meant to keep their abilities secret when they'd returned, but the recent events involving Cinder and whoever her mistress was being behind the book left her more cautious on the matter of who she should let know about her full abilities. Certainly not her father, he would seek to exploit them to their fullest extent, and she doubted he'd care much about what harm could potentially befall her due to his efforts.

She held her brother in higher confidence than that… but she didn't know if he'd be able to hold up to Jacques' interrogation if the man really got suspicious.

"I was trained to use magic while I was away, but as a consequence, my body instinctively attempts to strip down to my underwear at all times, requiring me to tape my clothes to my skin to keep from constantly running around in my birthday suit."

Whitley cocked an eyebrow. "Please, sister, we are Schnees. Sarcasm does not become us."

Weiss let loose a victorious smirk. "Then I guess you'll never know," she proclaimed, taking a long sip from her hot chocolate, enjoying his irritated eye roll.

Perhaps he would have responded with more, but their father's shout quelled any thought of speaking.

"The council will _never_ agree to this!"

"You seem to forget; I hold _two seats_ on the council."

"We both know that won't matter. The chairwoman will side with me on this foolishness."

"How arrogant can you be? She's the one who suggested it to me."

"Esper would never support such lunacy! Your dust embargo has already cost me millions, and now you're suggesting—"

"So this is about _you_!"

"Of course, it's about me! It's about me, you, Esper, Klein, his little granddaughter, the shoe shiner down the street and every other person on Remnant! Isolationism sounds lovely until you realize it cuts down demand a hundred-fold! Don't pretend you understand the intricacies of economics, James—"

"Don't you pretend to be a politician, Jacques. Not unless you want another Operation Godmother's Haven."

"… get out."

"This is best for everyone—"

"I SAID GET OUT!"

Both Weiss and Whitley flinched away from their father's roar, its echoes rippling through the house. Several scant moments later, the door to the study opened fully and General Ironwood marched out with a scowl on his face, pausing only when he sighted the two Schnee children. His displeasure vanished from his visage and he gave them both a formal bow.

"Whitley. Ms. Schnee."

"General," Weiss replied genially, both her and her brother returning the huntsman's gesture.

Ironwood smiled. "It's good to see you both. Please know that the both of you shall always have a home at Atlas Academy. We'll be back in session before you know it."

"Thank you, but no thank you, general," Whitley said. "Though I have only the greatest admiration for a huntsman's work, the business world holds my interest."

Weiss cocked an eyebrow at that response. She didn't recall Whitley having much interest in the business world. She'd explained some of it to him during her own studies before Beacon and he'd always then ask her for more interesting tales. Had his time home alone increased his propensity for the field?

No matter. She smiled at the general and nodded her head gratefully. So close to her father's earshot, she couldn't risk exchanging positive words with the general.

Ironwood seemed to understand, returning her pleasant smile and walking off.

"A temperamental man, don't you think?" Whitley observed. "One moment he's calm and calculating, and the next he's flying off the handle with his latest scheme to 'protect' the kingdom. Honestly, it's amazing he still has his rank after that fiasco at Beacon."

Weiss frowned. "It wasn't his fault."

"It doesn't matter, the rest of the world thinks it was," her brother pointed out. "And by extension, Atlas'. The threat of war is a very real possibility, and Ironwood's foolish embargo is only making it worse, not better."

"Weiss!" Jacques called from within. "Enter!"

Whitley shot her an encouraging smile. "Good luck."

"Thanks," Weiss replied, returning the gesture and her hot chocolate mug before entering the frigid study.

The office was almost exactly as she remembered it. Austere, professional, and efficient, every inch calculated to be as useful as possible while also making sure that all who entered understood that Jacques' power was tied to the near limitless wealth of the Schnee name. When she had entered the chamber even just a year ago, it had made her father seem almost untouchable, a god who could not be defied.

Now, she was a Fairy Tail wizard. And she could kill gods.

Plus, a chilly study wasn't all that trying when you'd spent time half-naked on Mt. Hakobe.

Still, it would be foolish to underestimate her father. His power had never been in physical strength, but in political and economic influence, forces that could be even more potent on a global stage. Even as he was, churning in rage from Ironwood's accusations in the middle of the room, he stood tall and proud, unbent and unbroken.

"At least you remembered your manners during your time at Beacon," he noted, his voice shifting from his previous booming roar to a more casual, but no less cold, tone. "Can you believe there are still people in the world who blame _Atlas_ for what happened to that place, to Vale?"

Quite easily, given that the only footage of the attack the world saw before the CCT went down was a beloved Mistralian champion destroying a secret Atlas weapon and their knights gunning down civilians instead of Grimm. Whatever Cinder had done to control the broadcast, she'd ensured that the world didn't see the squad of specialists bravely holding the line with the other kingdoms' huntsmen.

But that wasn't what her father wanted to hear. It wouldn't get her anywhere.

"They weren't there," she stated firmly. "But, once the Schnee Dust Company begins resupplying Beacon to help them rebuild, I'm sure the sentiment will die down."

Jacques snorted. "If only it were that simple."

Weiss' eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"I mean Ironwood has forbidden Atlas from exporting dust to other kingdoms," he replied, marching to sit down behind his desk, like a disgruntled king brooding on his throne. "A _precautionary measure_ , he says, until we're certain no one is going to declare war. Nevermind that reducing available demand will force a surplus in our supply, leading the other kingdoms to think _we're_ the ones stockpiling for war. How anyone could think this farce is sound logic is beyond me, as is how he got this idiotic measure past the council. Most of them are fools or sycophants, but Rosenflos has enough of them in her pocket to kill this stupidity in its cradle. And Ironwood says it was her idea, preposterous!"

That… actually made sense. Though she was loathe to agree with her father on anything, and she had no doubt he mourned more for his profits that might have been more than any lives that might be lost, she had to admit that his assessment of the situation was sound. Atlas' international image wasn't going to improve following General Ironwood's tactics, no matter how good a man he was.

Her father's smirk shifted to an odd fusion of Master Makarov's kindly smile and the grin of a shark that smelled blood in the water. "Which is why the Schnee Dust Company will be holding a charity concert in the coming weeks. We need to show the people of Remnant that we are on their side, that we are all victims of the Fall of Beacon."

Despite herself, Weiss couldn't help the jubilant smile that shone across her face. "That's wonderful news."

"I know," her father said, all too pleased with himself. "And I think it would make a lot of people happy if you were to perform."

And there was the punchline. "Excuse me?"

"Many forget that you were there, my own daughter, a Schnee, on the ground defending another kingdom. We need to remind them. And we need to show them that the Schnee family is just as strong as ever."

That his power was just as strong as ever. Only a few days back in Atlas and she was back under his thumb, an extension of his prestige, his perfect, pristine dancing monkey. For a few seconds, a searing cold fury rose within her. She could just picture freezing him in a block of black ice and storming out of the mansion, tossing aside her clothes just as Lucy had told she had once done, duct tape be damned!

But that wouldn't get her anywhere. As enticing as that fantasy was, she needed to help Beacon get back on its feet as soon as possible, and by extension return there to be with her friends and figure out what was going on mystically speaking. And having Weiss Schnee front and center on the concert ballot would certainly attract more attendance and, in turn, donations. Besides, if she was going to be forced to do something, it might as well be something she enjoyed doing.

"I'll start practicing."

Her father leaned back in his chair; his hands closed together before him. "That's my girl. And while you're at it, remove that tattoo on your hand. I don't know what you had to drink in Vale to think it was a good idea, but a Schnee cannot mar their form with such… frivolity."

His voice stuttered to a halt, his eyes widening as black frost suddenly covered his knuckles. A thin frozen mist suddenly permeated every scrap of open air, cold tingles spreading throughout the elder man's skin as his skin turned red.

"Father," Weiss said, her voice frigid. "I'm afraid my time in Vale as left me unused to our kingdom's more… trying weather. As such, I believe I will take to wearing gloves for the foreseeable future. I'm sure mother will be able to lend me a pair for the performance."

She whirled around before her father could respond and marched out of the office, the cold following her every step. It probably wouldn't do her any favors with her father, but that didn't matter. She wouldn't be his doll anymore. She was a Fairy Tail wizard and the only way someone was taking her guild mark was over her lifeless corpse.

Her friends were out there. She couldn't be with them at the moment, but she would make sure that she brought the entire force of her family's company to bare helping them. They would be reunited, all of them, from Remnant and Earthland.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

"Are you sure there's nothing else you need?"

Pyrrha managed a small smile, a rather difficult task when confined to a hospital bed with a cast over her right foot. "I'll be fine, Aunt Rouge. I don't want to keep you any longer than I have to."

Her aunt frowned from behind her wide-rim glasses. "Pyrrha, I can stay as long as you need me here. Sanctum won't mind. You're still quite popular there." She raised an eyebrow back toward the room door, where Pyrrha's mother and the hospital guards were holding off the rabid mob of reporters. "Perhaps less so than here, but that might be a good thing."

Pyrrha frowned. Being the last person on-screen before Cinder had made her big speech had stirred up even more of a media circus around her than usual. Her mother and aunt had done their best to keep it away from her while she healed, but she'd seen the headlines on her scroll. Fortunately, she wasn't being blamed, most of the news networks were framing her as desperately defending herself from an Atlesian superweapon before heroically throwing herself into the defense of Beacon, standing as its shining champion that fell only when the school was truly lost. There were some fringe sites, mostly conspiracy theorists, who pointed out that there was no way she could have known about her opponent's robotic nature when she'd dismembered her, but those voices were often ignored and parroted as inflammatory. No one wanted to be seen as against Mistral's golden child, or the myriad of business interests that were behind her. Even the reporters besieging her room just wanted to be the first to quote her after she'd finally woken up.

But… every time she closed her eyes, she saw Penny's shattered form scattering across the arena floor. She felt the heat of flames bristle across her skin. And she saw a blazing golden eye glare down upon her from on high, declaring her utterly powerless before its might.

Because that was what she was. She'd been the pawn that killed Penny. She'd been the one who'd screamed and drawn Jaune's attention away from the door. And when she'd needed to make things right, she'd been powerless to stop Cinder from taking her apart, only a burden to Ruby's struggle.

She didn't even know how she'd gotten off the tower alive. When she'd regained consciousness, she'd already been in the Mistral capital's finest hospital, her mother and aunt anxiously crowding around her bedside. The doctor arrived later to inform her of the extent of her injuries. Though she had miraculously survived Cinder's explosion, the damage the Fall Maiden's arrow did to her right foot's tendon was extensive. They assured her she'd be able to stand and even run within a few days thanks to her aura, but her old fighting style, reliant on its complex acrobatics, would be… inadvisable. Her arena fighting career was over, the world just didn't know it yet.

Her aunt had stayed by her side for the following days, but soon enough she would have to return to Argus. She was Sanctum's archivist and that was not a position that could go untended for long, no matter how much goodwill their family had with the academy. She'd still have her mother, but other than that, she'd be alone once again, her friends all back in Vale, save Weiss who had her own issues.

She should have been better, she should have been more on guard, she should have been stronger so she could crush Cinder! She should have—

"Ms. Nikos!"

Both Pyrrha and Rouge whirled around to the hospital room's window, the glass screen wrenched open by a youthful man with shaggy brown hair, an old camera tied around his neck as he reached out his scroll as a microphone.

"What?" Pyrrha muttered.

"How did you even get up here?" Rouge asked, too stunned by the man's presence to think of anything else. While she didn't share their family's talent for combat, she was often fascinated by the intricacies of their abilities. "Can you stick to walls?"

"A keen eye, mam. It's a useful semblance," the young man replied charismatically before returning his attention to Pyrrha. "Parker Peters, Ms. Nikos, _The Daily Trumpet_. Do you have any statement for the people of Mistral regarding Atlas' heinous attempt to assassinate you in the tournament?"

Pyrrha had quite a bit of experience dealing with the press, she had a pleasant but empty smile prepared just for them, but after so long away from the limelight at Beacon and being asked such an utterly ridiculous question, all she could do was stammer.

"I'm sorry, that was unprofessional of me. You've only just recovered," Peters replied to her incoherent response. He deleted the data from his microphone, before restarting the application. "Let's start over with any easier one. Do you have any plans on returning to Beacon once the school starts back up? Do you plan to attend Haven if Vale cannot clear the Grimm occupation out in time? Do you—"

"Parker, was it?" Aunt Rouge intervened. "You seem like a nice enough young man. I feel like I should warn you that you should really leave now."

The reporter shot her a cheeky grin. "Apologies, mam, but I can't do that. A good journalist has to be able to go through anything to get their story."

Rouge and Pyrrha shared a knowing look. "They always say _anything_ …"

"Until they meet her."

Peters raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean—"

The hospital room door slammed open, an unsettling terror rippling through the air like a mother bear had found another beast close to their cub. Pyrrha could only sigh as her mother shut the door behind her and stomped over to Peters, gripping the now terrified reported by the scruff of his shirt.

"Wha—wha—what?"

"Leave my daughter _alone_."

Pyrrha never saw blood flee a person's face faster, Peters' skin turning white as a ghost. He nodded frantically, causing her mother to release him and let him climb down right before she slammed the window shut.

"Damn vultures," she muttered. She whirled around back to her family and all malice disappeared from her face, leaving only a beatific smile. She rushed in and engulfed Pyrrha in a smothering hug. "Are you alright, my little warrior? That noisy reporter didn't drag up anything he shouldn't have, did he?"

Pyrrha pushed past her collapsing lungs to offer her mother a small smile. "He was fine. Rather polite really. Perhaps we can invite him to the official press conference."

Her mother pulled away and cocked an eyebrow. "Are you sure? Anyone that climbs up a hospital must have something wrong with them."

No one could accuse Scarlet Nikos of ever putting anything before her daughter. The moment Pyrrha had shown interest in following her mother into arena fighting, she'd sat her down and explained the rigors of both the combat and the circus around it, as well as one could to a young child anyway. When young Pyrrha had maintained her enthusiasm, she'd set out training her to be the best there ever was. And when older Pyrrha had felt herself become isolated and felt drawn to a higher purpose as a huntress, she'd supported her fully in that, upping her training to include various Grimm takedowns. Everything she'd ever done, from agreeing to be adopted as a Nikos in the first place, was for the sake of facilitating Pyrrha being allowed to live her best life possible.

Which also meant making any overly nosey reporters soil themselves. On first glance, Scarlet didn't look too intimidating, if anything she looked like a woman fifteen years younger, her rich, crimson hair still as vibrant and lush as it was in Pyrrha's baby pictures, her figure still as full and muscular as it had been during her arena fighting days. But a pretty face tended to make those with short memories forget just how _utterly_ she'd annihilated her opponents back in those days, and the boiling storm of her wrath was enough to make even the most determined members of the press think twice about invading the Nikos family's privacy.

But even though she'd never been able to defeat her in combat, Pyrrha had no fear of her mother.

"I'm sure," she said. "If there really is something inappropriate about him, we can just exclude him afterward."

Scarlet frowned but nodded to her daughter's decision. "You really are too forgiving, little warrior."

Pyrrha's face clouded over, a haunting visage of fire and golden eyes appearing in her mind's eye. Her hands tightened into fists. "Not anymore."

She was roused from her stupor when her mother's hand softly closed around her shoulder. "Are you sure you're alright, sweetie?"

Just like, Pyrrha threw her smile back up. Her mother had given her so much and she'd repaid her by forcing her to scramble to Vale not knowing if she was dead or alive. It wouldn't do to trouble her further. "I'm fine, really. You two should get going anyway or Aunt Rouge will miss her train."

"I can take a later train back to Argus," Rouge assured her. "If you need me here—"

"I'm fine," Pyrrha insisted, a note of desperation in her voice. "Really. I was banged up in the Fall but… I'm not made of porcelain. You can leave me alone for ten minutes." She raised her casted leg. "I'm not going anywhere."

Scarlet and Rouge shared a nervous look.

"If you're sure…" Scarlet said. "The guards should be able to hold off the reporters… and if you need anything, I'm only a scroll call away…"

"I know, thank you, but please, you're going to be—" Pyrrha's voice froze to a halt, her eyes locking onto her mother's form. Specifically, her upper left arm where a familiar dark blue emblem was proudly stamped. And suddenly she remembered where she'd seen Team RWBY's guildmarks before. "Mom… where did you get that tattoo?"

"What?" Scarlet glanced down at her bicep. "This? Well, I… I don't really know. Do you, Rouge?"

Her adopted sister shrugged. "You've had it for as long as I can remember. Since the day we met in the forest."

"Ah, that was a good day."

"We were attacked by a horde of Deathstalkers."

"But we met and got strawberry cake afterwards. I call that a good day."

"A good day does not include a brush with death."

"It does when you survive."

Rouge sighed. "All these years and I've never been able to cure you of your insanity."

Scarlet smirked. "But you love me anyway."

Pyrrha couldn't help but smile at the sisters' banter. However, she couldn't help but feel that her mother just happening to possess a tattoo shaped like an other-dimensional wizard guild's symbol, a guild her school friends were sent to by a mysterious book, was more than a little unusual.

"Mom," she whispered. "Does the word 'Fairy Tail' mean anything to you?"

"Fairytale?" Scarlet inquired, cocking an eyebrow. "What, like a children's story?"

No reaction, not even the slight delay of having to think up a lie, something her straightforward parent always needed. She didn't know anything.

"Nevermind," Pyrrha said. "Just… something from school my friends told me about."

"Oh," an impish grin split her mother's face, her eyebrows wiggling suggestively. "This wouldn't happen to be something that blond partner of yours told you about, would it?"

Pyrrha's face immediately went beet red. "Mother!"

"I mean, you spoke so flatteringly of him in your letters, I had to wonder if there was something more going on between you two—"

"Alright, alright," Rouge rescued her, pulling her sister along. "Now you're starting to sound like a reporter. Bye, sweetie!"

"You will have details for me when I get back, young lady!"

Her mother was yanked out of the room by her aunt and the door slammed shut, the reporters outside audibly scattering at Scarlet's presence.

Pyrrha quickly shook her blush away. After how abysmally she'd fared after sending Jaune away, _after kissing him_ , she had no doubt her partner wanted nothing more to do with her, let alone date her.

Now, she had to focus on what was ahead. Ozpin was dead, but his enemies were still out there, plotting their next move, Cinder and her dark mistress. She couldn't just let them get away with what they'd done, but without her headmaster and his circle to guide her, she had no idea where to aim herself. Maybe she could ask Professor Lionheart for help? She remembered Professor Goodwitch mentioning that the other academies' headmasters were part of their group.

But even then, what could she do? She'd be able to stand soon, but that didn't mean she could fight, especially with her entire style now denied her. She couldn't put the necessary pressure on her heel to jump around for her acrobatics… but what if she didn't have to?

After all, there were more ways to fly through the air than just jumping.

Pyrrha closed her eyes, blanketing her vision in a sea of darkness. She took a deep breath, ethernano flooding into her origin. For a few moments, there was nothing. And then a spark of golden light lit the sea aflame.

An eager grin blossomed across her face. She was no longer the Invincible Girl. But with magic, she could become something far, far greater. Great enough to make Cinder Fall pay.

* * *

 **Just to be clear, it is intentionally incredibly obvious who Pyrrha's mother is (congratulations to those who figured out my hints so far). If Pyrrha herself had ever seen a picture of Erza or Team RWBY a picture of Scarlet, they would have realized it themselves. The mystery is not who she is, but why she is there.**

 **Also, Rouge is meant to be the redheaded woman Jaune speaks to at Pyrrha's statue in Volume 6.**

 **An extra huge thank you to my patrons: ArcherMcMuffin, Gregg Tracton, Keith Traction, StabKingPro, Annaya Chan, Nora Okonus, Paula mandel, and KefkaesqueXIII.**

 **Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!**

 **Go Forth and Conquer!**


	17. Chapter 16

**Originally, the last section of this chapter was to be saved for next week, but while writing, it turned out to fit in rather well. The wonders you learn during the process.**

 **In the meantime, my Patrons have voted on the newest Teaser Chapter for this month. The first Teaser Chapter of my _RWBY_ / _One Piece_ crossover 'Beacon Pirates' is now available on my Pat reon.**

 **If you wish to support me and my college tuition, please check out my P a treon for future chapter summaries, story ideas and more: p a Treon.(c om) (backslash) themaster4444**

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* * *

Emerald had never made a secret of her opinion of Mercury. Her 'partner' was a crass, juvenile showoff who talked too much. Skilled he may have been, if Cinder hadn't thought they'd need him for Beacon, she would have left him to bleed out next to his dad's corpse.

But even still, she couldn't help but cringe in sympathy as his screams echoed throughout the castle.

"I thought it was safe now?" she asked Cinder. "Why is he screaming?"

Cinder shrugged, leaning against a large glass cylinder filled with some strange dark fluid, pale tentacles riving within. "The upgrades have made the pain manageable, not nonexistent. Besides, Watts has never been a doctor that cared whether his subjects were comfortable or not. By having Mercury go first, we make sure the threshold he's set isn't a fluke."

"Really, Cinder?" Salem sighed, shaking her head sadly. "Your subordinates are not disposable. If you believe they belong among the Gates, then you must be willing to see them as equals. As friends. Just as your teacher will you once you've ascended."

The Fall Maiden glanced away, chastised. "Of course, your grace."

Emerald pushed down the urge to jump to Cinder's defense. She wanted to shout about how of course Cinder had made sure Mercury went first, he was just a brute, replaceable. Risking either of them would be too great a risk. But as much as she owed the older woman, the only person who'd ever cared about her, challenging Salem was a bit beyond her capabilities.

The three women stood in a massive chamber, deep within the lower dungeons of the castle. The Mother of Grimm had called it her Neo-Hell's Core, and it certainly earned its title. Rows upon rows of the sludge-filled capsules were packed into the room, each drowned with demonic tentacles, scraping and churning through the fluid as if trying to sculpt something from clay. Most of the cylinders held Grimm, smaller species like the bulbous Keepers or Cinder's Scarab. A scattered few contained vaguely humanoid masses of flesh, constantly soothed and massaged by their tenders. Lining the center aisle were the most impressive of the bunch, twelve glass tanks capped with elaborate black steel engravings, six on each side. At the foot of each was the image of a key, a different symbol inscribed within every carving. When asked, Salem had eagerly explained that each key represented half of each of the Gates' being, from which they drew their title from. Cinder's Teacher, for instance, was the Gate of the Maiden, while Tyrian, predictably, was the Gate of the Scorpion.

But as fascinating as the history lesson was, none of it compared to the terror at the far end of the laboratory. The capsule within which Mercury howled in agony as purple lightning flashed over his body.

The Ascension Chamber didn't look too impressive from the outside. If anything, it appeared to be a darker, bulkier version of the Aura Transfer Chamber Cinder had described finding Amber in beneath Beacon. Except Emerald was willing to bet that Ozpin's device hadn't twisted its subject's skin nearly inside out as black energies pervaded their body. At its side, Watts fiddled with a cornucopia of levers and knobs as an eldritch pen scribbled down line after line of glowing mystical cursive in a thick brown tome. On the text's cover was a drawing of a key inlaid with a pair of intertwining fish, accompanied by two crossed hammers, a demonic eye, and a radiant gold star.

"He really is doing quite well," Salem noted.

Emerald raised an eyebrow, unable to stop the snark that escaped her lips. "He's been screaming for twenty minutes."

Her eyes widened in terror after realizing who'd she'd talked back to her, her hand shooting up to her mouth as she readied her semblance to let her escape.

Fortunately, Salem only chuckled good-naturedly. "True, but it took Arthur a whole hour to quiet down, though to be fair that may have been my subpar handling of the device. I am a wizard, demonologist, enchanter, alchemist, conjurer, summoner, and biologist, but I must confess that my mechanical skills are quite inferior to our good Dr. Watts."

"Thank you, your grace," said doctor preened, only to scramble down another lever as Mercury's screams rose.

Cinder scoffed, throwing up her arms to gesture all around the hellish laboratory. "You built all this without him. He can't be that crucial."

"It took me centuries to create and perfect this place, and I was working off the research of others to do it," Salem confessed humbly. "The fusion is my work, and reviving the art took a great deal of effort, but I could not have done it alone. No one can truly triumph alone."

Cinder frowned. "And yet, in the end, we all are."

Salem sighed. "Not if we don't have to be. You truly do need to understand that, my dear, or else you'll never be happy."

Cinder's eyes narrowed at the Ascension Chamber, unperturbed by Mercury's riving form. "I'll be happy when I'm strong."

Emerald's brow furrowed in confusion. For all that she adored Cinder and would follow her to the ends of Remnant, she didn't really understand her motives. She'd known she wanted the maiden's power, but she'd assumed that had just been a step to further Salem's plans. Now, it turned out she just wanted to be strong. Why? Did she have her own cunning scheme in the mix somewhere?

Or was it just that if she were strong, no one could ever hurt her?

No. No, that was ridiculous. That might have been what Emerald would desire power for but Cinder… Cinder was fierce, she was calculating and methodical. She would never want strength for something so… small.

Besides, the thief's desire for security was borne out of her years and years of destitution on the streets, out of being utterly powerless her entire life. What could Cinder have possibly gone through to make her share such a mundane objective?

Salem shook her head. "I am one of the most powerful beings in history, my dear, and I can tell you for a fact that strength alone will not bring you peace—"

The Queen's voice suddenly cut out; her blazing crimson eyes suddenly fully drowned by the black depths behind them. Her head shot up, her body ramrod straight.

"I see," she muttered, as if in a trance. "So that's where you're going—wait!"

Her face returned to normal, her muscles relaxing. Her hands curled into fists for a moment before she released them with an exhausted sigh.

Emerald took a hesitant step back, unsure if she was in any danger of being stress relief target practice or not.

Cinder, on the other hand, cocked an eyebrow. "My lady, is everything alright?"

Salem closed her eyes for a brief moment, before opening them again with a sigh. "Arthur, how soon until his ascension is complete?"

"His book will be finished in a few minutes," Watts relayed. "After that, he'll be able to begin training in a few days."

"Good. Gather the books after everything is done and take them with you to Atlas. If everything goes well, the safest storage space will be there." The Queen turned to Emerald. "My dear, please fetch Tyrian. I have a task for him."

The thief gulped, glancing fearfully between Salem and the Ascension Chamber, Mercury finally sagging into silence within. She looked to Cinder, but received only a curt nod in return.

She bowed to her mistress and dashed off to find the psychopath, aware that soon she would lose her humanity entirely.

* * *

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"That was so _awesome_!" Sun squealed.

Blake glared at him pointedly, tilting her head towards all the surrounding refugees she _didn't_ want to advertise her presence or her unusual abilities to. The monkey faunus grinned sheepishly.

"Sorry," he said, quieter. "But seriously, Sea Feilongs can sink entire convoys, and you literally just had to touch it and it was gone. You probably saved the entire ship."

Blake sighed. The refugee ship she and Sun had hitched a ride on to get to Menagerie had been attacked by a Sea Feilong, an aquatic/aerial Grimm that was about as dangerous as a Grimm could be without being a Wyvern or a Leviathan. The captain had certainly been more prepared than most boats that ferried faunus to their island (kinder too), but he was still outmatched. His broadside guns didn't have the strength to penetrate the monster's armor, and his heavy cannon couldn't land a hit on the nimble beast. If Blake hadn't been there to jump on and absorb it, there was little chance the vessel would have survived.

Even still, she found it difficult to find any joy in Sun's praise. For all the absorption had gone far smoother than her transformation, the oily ocean of power that passed through her still reminded her of the moment she'd gone under at Beacon, where she'd maimed her partner without even realizing it. And then there was that voice, so distant, yet so familiar. She felt like she should have recognized it, but there was too much mystical static. The entire thing felt far too distorted.

No matter. Whatever it was, perhaps it would become clearer as she trained. That was why they were there after all. The place she never thought she'd return to.

The port of Kuo Kuana was as crowded and hectic as ever, small fishing vessels and short-range patrol boats cluttering up the water. On land, faunus of every feature and subspecies scurried about the packed waterfront stalls, browsing every kind of ware one could imagine from such a place. The wafting scent of tuna, herring, salmon, and even a few swordfish made Blake's mouth water with desire.

Her hunger must have slipped onto her face, as Sun chuckled as they walked down their ship's ramp onto the harbor. "We can pick up some snacks if you like. We've still got plenty of lien from Vale."

She entertained the thought (the delectable, succulent thought) for a moment before reluctantly discarding it. "We don't know how long we'll be here. We'll have to ration our money. I know a fishmonger that can get us good fish for a fair price."

"And some bananas?"

Blake shrugged. She only knew about the fishmonger because it was the place that her mom had always taken her when they were little. There weren't many fans of fruit in the Belladonna household.

"Great," Sun smirked as they strode through the dirt streets into the city proper. "Because I've been meaning to see if I can gather more ethernano before I eat or after. You know, just to make sure I'm not missing anything. I could be a Banana Dragon Slayer for all we know."

Blake smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "You've only been at it for a few days. It takes time to get down, especially when you don't know what you're aiming for. I only started making progress once I knew I had Take-Over."

Since they'd had little else to do on the ship, she'd taken the opportunity to begin imparting magic training to her friend. Strangely though, despite Sun throwing himself completely into the endeavor, he'd made even less progress than Team JNPR had. Enough that Blake was starting to wonder if there was more going on than she'd first assumed. After all, even with the extremely thin ethernano levels, _someone_ in the history of Remnant should have been able to use magic other than the Maidens and Salem. Even if only about ten percent of Earthland had the origin capacity to be full-fledged wizards, everyone else was still able to use minor magics or items. So what was so different about their world that the mystical was able to be buried so effectively by Ozpin?

"So, where to?" Sun inquired, rousing her from her pondering. "Straight to the desert, or do we stop somewhere first?"

Blake's eyes furtively glanced about the dark nooks and alleys of the bright city, scanning carefully for even the slightest hint of a Grimm mask. She wasn't sure if the island had received the full details of the Fall of Beacon and branded the White Fang a terrorist group or not, her dad certainly wouldn't let their actions stand, but either way, she knew there was a cell in the city. "We have enough supplies for a bit. We should get to the desert. The sooner I get control of my powers, the sooner we can join the others at Haven."

Sun cocked an eyebrow. "Are you sure? Yang mentioned that you have family here."

Blake's ears drooped over top her head as a scowl spread her across her face. "Of course she did."

"Hey, don't be like that. She's worried about you. And so I am," Sun insisted. "Are you sure you don't want to just see them? They must have spotted you at the Vytal Festival, but they'll have no way of knowing if you survived everything."

"They won't care if I did," Blake declared with certainty. Her amber eyes gazed over the crest of the city's main hill, at the base of which sat her family's manor, a stalwart fortress of order among the ramshackle wooden city surrounding it. "We… didn't part on good terms. I had to choose between them and Sienna Khan, her vision of a violent White Fang, a stronger White Fang I thought back then… and I choose wrong. I chose so wrong; said things I can never take back."

Sun clasped a comforting hand on her shoulder. "They're your family. Once they see what you've done, how you've tried to make things right—"

"What? Like how I dismembered my partner? Oh yeah, I'm sure they'll love how I made my best friend left-handed," Blake snapped. "They won't forgive me. And they shouldn't."

"Yang did," Sun reminded her.

Blake sighed, shifting out of his grip and turning away from the mansion. "And I still don't understand how."

All the people she'd hurt, all the loved ones she kept hurting despite her best efforts… it was horrid. Even if she'd arrived at a good and righteous path in time, she'd still spent years as a remorseless terrorist. That time, those sins, they didn't just disappear because she was trying to be better.

No, the only thing that redeemed evil methods, at least to some extent, was results. When she had those, when she'd actually obtained a tangible victory in her fight to defend her friends and bring some measure of justice to the world, then maybe she'd dare to beg her parents' forgiveness.

Until then, she was only a monster.

* * *

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" _But why do we have to stay while you guys get to go on the totally awesome wizard job?"_

" _Because we weren't the ones who blew up a building!"_

 _Ruby pouted at Yang's scolding, leading Blake to sigh at the sisters' childishness. "You guys said you were fine with mounting the Full Magnolia onto the float."_

" _Because we thought you wanted them for aesthetic appeal!" Weiss yelled from further up the scaffolding. "You didn't mention that you'd loaded them, you dolt!"_

" _They're guns! Why wouldn't they be loaded?"_

" _Get up here and help me!"_

 _Ruby growled, but bounded up to Weiss' scaffolding, where Elfman and Lisanna were assisting them in laying new brick for the house they'd blown to bits. Thank goodness the cannon had only gone off by accident after the Fantasia Parade had finished. If they'd disrupted the crown jewel of the Harvest Festival as their introduction to Magnolia proper, the huntresses probably would not have been well-liked by the city. As it was, causing a bit of accidental property damage just made them average Fairy Tail members._

 _Apparently, while most cities just forwarded their many, many complaints to the Magic Council, who passed them along to Master Makarov, the guild had long had a simple but effective arrangement with their hometown. If they broke something, they fixed it, no backtalk, no charge._

 _Which was why Ruby, Weiss, and whoever they could ask for assistance were now leaping across scaffolding right outside Kardia Cathedral, which now had one less tower than it had the other day. Erza wore a construction worker's uniform as she carried a pair of I-beams over her shoulders while Juvia and Wendy ferried spackle up to the higher levels. At least, when Juvia wasn't mooning over a shirtless Gray while he made an elevator out of ice to move supplies up and down or glaring at Weiss for doing the same thing far more subtly. Blake didn't think her teammate had the same level of affection for her teacher as the water wizard did, but a shirtless body of handsome muscles was a shirtless body of handsome muscles. It was not difficult to appreciate._

 _But, Natsu had promised to take Yang on a job after the parade and, being Natsu, had already promised the client that they'd be their right after the parade. Thus, since Ruby had loaded the cannon without telling them and Weiss had been the one to accidentally set it off, Yang had declared that they would stay behind to fix things while she and Blake went off with Natsu, Lucy, and Happy._

 _Levy came over to the five of them, handing Blake and Yang a pair of maps. "In case you get separated. Natsu can move pretty fast when he gets worked up and you won't know the area."_

 _Yang smirked. "I think we'll be able to keep up."_

 _Blake cocked an eyebrow at her partner and snatched up the maps. She turned to Lucy. "So what is this job, anyway?"_

 _Lucy cringed. "There's a giant monster wandering around near Hosenka Village. We've been hired to kill it."_

" _It's going to be great!" Natsu grinned._

" _I told you to get an easy job to ease them into this." Lucy reminded him, a bead of sweat dripping down her forehead._

 _Natsu shrugged. "Yeah. That's why I made sure there'd only be one monster. They're huntresses after all, so this should be a piece of cake."_

" _Aye, sir!" Happy cheered. "Besides, shouldn't you be happy about this job, Lucy? Hosenka Village is a resort town, so it's got more than enough of a reward to cover your rent for the rest of the month. Plus, we'll get a spa session out of it!"_

 _Lucy let out a pleased sigh, like Nora thinking of pancakes or Erza of cake. "It will be nice to soak in those hot springs again."_

" _Hot springs, eh?" Yang smirked. "I don't suppose they're unisex, are they?"_

" _Uni… sex… oh, you mean boys and girls use the same ones?" Natsu replied. "Afraid not. It's just like the guild's baths."_

 _Yang pouted, her eyes flickering between both their guildmates. "You mean I have to choose?"_

" _What do you mean choose—"_

 _Blake's face went red at the same time as Levy and Lucy's, Yang eagerly wiggling her eyebrows at both the latter and her teacher._

 _The Fire Dragon Slayer just tilted his head in confusion. "Why would you need to choose? It's the same water. What'd be the difference?"_

" _It's a difference in loooooove," Happy snickered._

" _She loves water?"_

 _The Exceed sighed and floated over to Yang. "Are you sure you want to do this? There's got to be better options out there."_

 _The huntress grinned. "I'm going for the threesome. I don't plan to lose."_

" _He's dense and she's not sure of herself yet. You will."_

" _Really? You asked out Carla yet?"_

" _Oh, look at the time," Happy sputtered before flying off. "We need to hurry so we can pick up fish at the train station!"_

" _Ugh, trains," Natsu moaned, following after his partner._

" _Right!" Lucy shouted, running along, clearly just wanting to escape the awkward atmosphere. "Fish at the train station!"_

 _After the three dashed off into the distance, a small cloud of dust following after, Blake finally found the courage to turn to Yang._

" _You don't really plan to get together with both of them, right?"_

 _The blonde brawler shrugged. "There's something between them already, something powerful, even if they don't realize it themselves. If I can help them figure that out, and get some action myself along the way, it'll be time well spent."_

 _Blake cocked an eyebrow. "So, you're not trying for anything… you know, deeper?"_

 _The roguish charm evaporated from Yang's face, replaced by a resigned melancholy. "I'd love to. They're both amazing, plus smoking hot. But we're not going to be here forever. And once we get back to Remnant, there's no guarantee we'll be able to figure out how to use the book to come and go as we please. How can I try to start something like that if I know I'm not going to be able to finish it?"_

" _Oh," Blake muttered. "Well… um… maybe we won't get home. Nothing stopping you if we're trapped here forever… I am really bad at comforting people."_

 _Yang let out a dry chuckle. "Yeah, you really are. Thanks for trying though."_

" _We always do," Levy said, putting a comforting hand on Yang's shoulder. "You should talk to them. I don't know how they'll react to the idea of… well, a threesome, but they'll appreciate you being honest with them at least."_

 _All of a sudden, a cheshire grin slipped over Yang. "You're right, Levy. I'll go do that… right after you talk to Gajeel."_

 _Levy promptly did her best impression of a cherry tomato._

" _That's what I thought," Yang teased. "Come on, Blake! We've got monster hunting to do!"_

 _Blake smacked her face into her palm as her partner dashed off, Levy stuttering behind._

" _She means well," she assured her fellow bookworm. "She's just… complicated."_

 _Levy's face calmed down, the blue-haired girl pulling a small book from her bag. "Yeah, I get that. Gajeel can be similar sometimes. Wanting friends, sharing an exaggerated posturing version of himself to win people over, yet always afraid that the real him isn't worth being cared about."_

 _Blake frowned, recalling Yang's overzealous protection of Ruby and the tragedy of her two mothers. No one, no matter how outwardly confident and sure, spent over a decade searching for a woman they'd never met if they didn't have some doubts they wanted answered._

 _Maybe a relationship with Natsu and/or Lucy would do her some good. No complications, no worries of worth, just pure kind friendship. It could help her strengthen her belief in herself._

 _She was roused from her thoughts when Levy pushed forward her tome. "Here. You won't be able to read Erza's books when you're around the others, so you might enjoy this."_

 _Blake flinched at the subtle admonishment but smiled as she took the book. "Thank you. I'm sure I will. What's it about?"_

 _Levy's eyes lit up. "Oh, it's amazing! It's the story of an ancient wizard that helped bring the world out of Zeref's dark age. He slew lots of demons and monsters, and even pioneered some of the Lost Magics! It's incredible!"_

" _Really?" Blake said, already starting to look forward to reading it. She flipped open the cover and beheld the silver title on the first page. "The Saga of Ozma, the Great and Powerful. I like it already."_

* * *

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Wake up, pump the water, feed the chickens, till the fields. Wake up, pump the water, feed the chickens, till the fields. Wake up, pump the water, feed the chickens, till the fields. For years and years, that had been the schedule Oscar had lived his life by, barring any momentary interruptions for a Grimm scare or his aunt chewing him out. It was hardly the most glamorous life on Remnant, but he had no huge complaints about being a farmhand. It put food in his stomach and a roof over his head, and there was certainly nothing wrong with that.

At least until he'd started going insane, that was.

" _You're not going insane, Oscar."_

"Says the imaginary voice in my head that's claiming to be a dead huntsman," he countered.

" _I am not imaginary,"_ the voice claiming to be Professor Ozpin insisted. _"Our souls have been mystically bound together by a curse placed upon me long ago by the Brother Gods of Light and Darkness."_

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

" _Hardly. This is not my first rodeo, my boy. I would be extremely surprised if you felt 'okay' with any of this."_

"Wonderful," Oscar moaned. "Then how about you shut up, never talk to me again, and I can pretend this bout of insanity never happened."

" _If only that were possible,"_ Ozpin mused, not without sympathy. _"But a game is being played with the fate of humanity in the balance. And we cannot stand by and do nothing."_

"You mean _you_ can't stand by and do nothing," Oscar countered. "I am fourteen years old. Even if what you're saying is true and you are real and the world really is in danger, there's nothing I can do about it. So just… I don't know, unbind with me and hop into some huntsman's head. They'll do a better job than I ever could."

" _It doesn't work like that. I do not control who I bond to. But the very fact that my curse has brought me to you signifies that you have the potential for greatness. And, no matter your misgivings, the will to achieve it."_

Oscar didn't reply to that, unwilling to divulge to the maybe insane, maybe magic, voice that his daily routine had gotten a bit… dull over time. He loved his aunt, but the farm was not the most engaging place to work all the time, especially when they were close enough to Mistral's capital for tales to trickle down from the city about the daring exploits of the huntsmen and huntresses of Haven. When he was pumping the water, feeding the chickens, and tilling the fields, it was hard not to let his mind wander to other, more exciting adventures.

But he was also old enough to recognize that said adventures would come with a high probability of horrible, painful death. If he'd gone out into the world, he wouldn't be fighting some small garden Beowolf, he'd be facing titanic Grimm older than the kingdoms themselves. Huntsmen and huntresses started training long before his age and most of them still died in the line of duty. He simply did not have the skills to qualify for an Academy, let alone actually be of use in the fight.

" _You must not think so little of yourself."_

Oscar frowned. "You can read my thoughts?"

" _Well… yes. I'm in your head as well. But you shouldn't feel ashamed just because you've never trained before. Every great warrior or wizard starts where you are now. If they can do alone, I see no reason why you can't do it with my help."_

Despite his fears that the voice was just telling him what he wanted to hear, Oscar couldn't help a pang of gratefulness that shot through him. At least, until he realized exactly what the supposed huntsman had said. "Wizard?"

Within his mind, he felt Ozpin give the mental equivalent of a nod. _"Indeed. Truthfully, it's not surprising my curse sought you out. Your origin is larger than any I've seen since… well, for a very long time."_

"Origin?"

" _Magic works by having a metaphysical organ called an origin take in ethernano from the atmosphere and convert it into magic power. The larger the origin, the more magic power. Unfortunately, since the world was deprived of the vast majority of its ethernano a long time ago, the average human's origin has shriveled to the point where they can only use the simplest of magic without artificial augmentation. My curse seeks out those with the largest origins to aid in the fight, but even then, I often have to use dangerous techniques such as the Second and Third Origins to perform anything truly spectacular. And then… there's you."_

Oscar rolled his eyes. "Let me guess. I just happen to have the biggest origin you've ever seen?"

" _Not that I've ever seen. But the largest one in this era that isn't from a Silver-Eyed Warrior or otherwise amplified."_

"Well isn't that just convenient that you just happened to find me."

" _Not convenient. Like I said, my curse seeks out those with such power. The fact that you were born as a genetic permutation is the reason I've bonded to you. And it means I can teach you magic I have not used in a long time."_

Oscar frowned. Even if he wasn't going crazy, even if there was some instinctive, buried feeling deep down inside of him that told him that everything Ozpin was telling him was the truth… this all seemed far too ridiculous.

But if it wasn't… then that meant the world really was in danger of ending. Everything he'd ever known would be annihilated, his aunt and their farm included. If he could do something about it, then he couldn't just stand by.

"Prove it," he demanded. "Prove that this magic is real and that I can do it, and I'll believe the other stuff too. We'll… save the world."

One again, despite being unable to see his face, he felt Ozpin smile.

" _I'm going to take over your body for a moment. Don't be alarmed. You shall have it back in a few moments."_

"Wait, what—"

A flash of green filled his vision and suddenly Oscar felt like a passenger in his own body. He could still see, hear, and use all his other senses, but he couldn't feel any connection between his brain and the rest of his muscles. And yet, his body walked towards the water pump without his command.

' _Well, this isn't terrifying at all_.'

"My apologies," Ozpin spoke with his lips, but with the formerly disembodied voice's cadence. "In the future, I will not do this without your express permission, I promise."

' _Right. Like you need it.'_

"Perhaps, but I wish to be your partner, Oscar. Not your slavedriver," Ozpin assured him. "We are in this together."

The huntsman pushed down on the pump, drawing up water from within and spilling it onto the ground.

' _Can you at least use a bucket? We really can't afford to waste that.'_

Ozpin ignored his request. Instead, he took in a deep breath, something more than air filling his body. Oscar could feel it, a strange tingling sparking beneath his chest, filling him with warmth. And yet, he felt it was only the barest fraction of what it could be, like he could contain so much more.

" **Flashback**."

The effect was instantaneous as the word left their lips, a burst of energy flashing from their body and into the water and pump before them. Suddenly, they began moving in reverse, the water shooting upward and into the pipe as the pump worked in reverse to allow its return. By the time it was finished, there was not a drop on the formerly soaked ground below.

Oscar realized he had control of his body again when his jaw dropped.

" _Ah, it has been too long since I've been able to use my true magic,"_ Ozpin sighed. _"Thank you, Oscar."_

"Uh, sure. No problem," Oscar muttered, his eyes still glued to the pump.

Magic was real. Magic was real, and that meant everything else was real too. He was bonded to an ancient wizard who was apparently also the ex-headmaster of Beacon Academy who could possess his body at will and was trying to stop the end of the world. He should have been terrified, and he was… and yet…

"Can you teach me how to do that?"

He felt the old man grin. _"We have a long way to Mistral. I don't see why not."_

* * *

 **A bit of a transition chapter here, getting the last of the pieces moving across the board. Salem's castle provides a wealth of foreshadowing and Chekov's Guns while Emerald tries to figure out exactly what's going on in Cinder's head. And Tyrian is dispatched on a hunt.**

 **Blake and Sun arrive in Menagerie, an arc that I have a complicated relationship with in canon. I like a lot of the pieces involved (Sun is always a blast and Ghira and Kali are lovely), but the arc itself just feels lacking in tension. I knew Ilia's character arc from her first scene in Volume 5. Predictable does not necessarily mean bad though and the arc itself was done well, but it lacked any real impact because the only other antagonists of the arc, the Albain brothers, might as well have been cardboard cutouts (which one died again?), leaving the fact that she, the only interesting antagonist, was going to predictably turn good as a moment to dread instead of long for, because that would be the moment when I really would have nothing to fear for the heroes (Because there was no way the Albain brothers were going to kill anyone with a name). And if I do not fear for the heroes, then there is no tension, and if there is no tension, there is no engagement. That said, I hope to be able to play around with the excellent parts the arc and setting provide in order to create something I would have enjoyed seeing on screen. And with any luck, it will be enjoyable to read.**

 **Then we have the flashback, where we glimpse a bit of Yang's psyche as well as her romantic ambitions. Will they come to pass? Will she bring Nalu together with herself in the middle? No, Fairy Tail canon still happened as written, so she struck out in that department. But perhaps she will have better luck in the present.**

 **And everyone's favorite farmhand has arrived! Huzzah! Always nice to have Oscar on board, even if he thinks he's insane for a bit.**

 **An extra huge thank you to my patrons: ArcherMcMuffin, Gregg Tracton, Keith Traction, StabKingPro, Annaya Chan, Nora Okonus, Paula mandel, and KefkaesqueXIII.**

 **Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!**

 **Go Forth and Conquer!**


	18. Chapter 17

**If you wish to support me and my college tuition, please check out my P a treon for future chapter summaries, story ideas and more: p a Treon.(c om) (backslash) themaster4444**

 **Beta-ed by xenosaiyan**

* * *

"Professor Lionheart, please," Pyrrha insisted. "Professor Ozpin wouldn't have told me about what was really going on if he didn't think I was ready for it."

As promised, it had only taken a few days for her wounds to heal well enough for her to walk. The media had promptly swarmed her questions about whether she'd be returning to arena fighting or one of the Academies, only to scatter in terror when her mother had told them she would only be undertaking light rehabilitation training for the time being and any further inquiries would be decidedly… unwelcome. It was fortunate that her mother had such a fearsome reputation among the press, as it allowed Pyrrha to sneak off to Haven to speak with Professor Lionheart unmolested.

However, the Headmaster himself was being decidedly unhelpful.

"Ms. Nikos, I have no doubt that you are a skilled warrior and an exemplary huntress," the lion faunus assured her from behind his desk. "But you are still a child. I trusted Ozpin on many matters, but even he would not deny that seeking out a student for the maiden powers was an act of desperation. One that evidently backfired."

Pyrrha cringed as if she'd been smacked. "I… I…"

"That was not your fault," Lionheart said quickly, rising to his feet. "But now that the Fall Maiden's power is regrettably out of our control, there's no reason you should risk your life in this war. You're no longer involved."

"No longer involved?" Pyrrha repeated, incredulous. "They sacked my school! They made me a murderer! Cinder killed my headmaster and nearly killed me—"

"And Cinder is just a foot soldier!" Lionheart roared, raising his voice for the first time in the conversation. Once Pyrrha was suitably stunned, the headmaster sighed, all intensity gone from his face, replaced by a nearly imperceptible shaking. "She is just a pawn. She is just a pawn, and she nearly killed you. And her master… Salem… she is dread and darkness incarnate."

Pyrrha had never heard such fear from one of her professors. Ozpin, Glynda, and General Ironwood, had spoken to her with severity, made clear the danger they were asking her to step into, but they'd always held back from letting their own reservations show. Yet, Lionheart's voice was dripping with terror.

"Pyrrha, please," he whispered. "I don't know how much Ozpin explained about Salem and her goals, but it is not something to rush towards. Grimm have been in a frenzy across the continent since the Fall of Beacon. I've had to push off the semester because the Council needs my teachers in the field. Now isn't the time to go on the offensive. We need to fortify… and you need to heal."

The Invincible Girl frowned. She didn't want to wait. She needed to get back out in the fight, to stop Cinder from hurting anyone else.

But… she couldn't deny that she had some training to do reworking her fighting style. If the more experienced huntsman, one of Ozpin's four specially chosen acolytes, thought she needed to wait in order to defeat their foes… she could wait. Cinder would be back in time.

And she'd be ready for her.

"I understand, headmaster," she replied softly. "If it isn't too much trouble, would it be alright if I used Haven's facilities to train?"

Lionheart smiled. "It would be an honor, Ms. Nikos. If you ever need a sparring partner, you only need to ask, though I confess I may not be much of a challenge to one of your talents. I'm not the warrior I used to be."

Pyrrha chuckled. She gave the headmaster a polite bow and exited the office. As she strode through the elegant wooden halls of Haven, her mind ruminated on what she'd learned from the faunus, of what Ozpin had been planning to tell her if she'd accepted his offer. Of the Relics, of the Gates… of Salem. The shadow war was much larger than she'd thought, with far more foes waiting in the wings. And as the sweeping dorms of the empty school reminded her, their available allies were hardly numerous, either occupied defending the outlying settlements from the Grimm or simply out of contact range. She'd have to wait until the CCT got back up before she could call the gang in Vale. With any luck, Qrow or Professor Goodwitch would have already let them in on everything after the disaster of the Fall. Maybe they'd even be able to forgive her for keeping what she had from them.

In a few minutes, she reached the sparring hall. It was incredibly similar to Beacon's, only with a Mistralian tint in the aesthetics, more embellished decoration of vines and mosaics in place of Vale's functional grandeur. It felt foreign to step into such a frivolously decorated arena after so long away, but it would suit her purposes just fine.

She tapped a few keys on the control console and several tiles rose up from the floor, revealing old model Atlesian Knights, AK-100s, fitted with riot shields and boxing gloves. Once the machines were rotated out of service, Atlas sold them in bulk to the academies to serve as training dummies. In time, she'd face off with units equipped with swords and bows to prepare for Cinder, but for now, she needed to get back into the swing of things.

Pyrrha glanced down at her empty hands, her arms feeling far too light without Milo and Akouo. She'd had her trusty shield and weapon since her first tournament, her mother's gift, to show her that she was proud of her in victory and defeat. But defeat had taken them from her, another consequence of her powerlessness. She could get replacements of course but as any huntsman would say, Ruby especially, there was no way to simply leave behind a weapon.

No matter. With her foot as it was, she needed a new style anyway. This… this would just be part of that.

She set the passcodes to shut everything down as soon as her aura hit the red and marched into the arena. The robots' heads flared to life, thankfully not red as at Beacon, and they moved in towards Pyrrha.

The champion raised her fists, a bit of Yang's boxing stance leaking into her own position. But when the first Knight threw a punch, she slipped to the side, flowing like Ren. She pushed the machine's arm out and delivered a punishing blow to its shield knocking it backward and off-balance. With that, she promptly pulled out what the team had taken to calling 'Nora mode'. Essentially, she battered her target with every ounce of strength she had until it sparked, and the lights went off. Simple, but effective.

She couldn't wield her old style anymore, using elaborate acrobatics to confuse her foes while her regimented footwork picked them apart piece by piece, her calculated use of her semblance frustrating them until they slipped up enough for her to finish them. But she wasn't the same lonely, disciplined girl who'd learned it either. She'd grown in her time at Beacon. Perhaps not as much as Jaune had, but one who was merely finetuning their technique didn't advance as fast as one who was starting from nothing. But she'd absorbed traits, bits of technique and tactics that had defined her friends. She couldn't use them to the same extent as them, but they were a part of her now. She was no longer the lonely girl standing at the top. She had to fight like it.

Her semblance alerted her to a chunk of metal rushing towards the back of her head. She rolled to the side just as another Knight's glove passed through where she'd been, coming to her feet as the remaining gaggle of robots gathered around her. She narrowed her eyes as they advanced, dancing backward to avoid their blows, carefully applying her semblance to divert their strikes, though that fact that she had to make a conscious effort not to spring into flips prevented her from launching a counterattack. She needed to readjust her instincts, use this time against harmless foes to prepare her body for more dangerous opponents.

And maybe try out a few new tricks along the way.

She stumbled back from the Knights and took a deep breath. She had filled up her origin before coming to the school, but the practice still served to center her mind, just as her mother had originally intended.

The air left her mouth and the ethernano ignited. Golden light surrounded her body and she rocketed forward, ramming through the robots like an out of control bull.

She crouched to her knees, gnashing her teeth to both maintain the radiant magic and keep her flight under control. This power, it could be the key to keeping her friends safe, to defeating Cinder once and for all. She couldn't be a burden to Ruby the next time they fought!

The robots staggered back to their feet, their riot shields dent, but intact from her wild charge. They raised their arms and turned on her, ready for another bout.

Pyrrha growled, the magic still flaring around her like a wild beast. She had to control this! Why couldn't she control this?

The Knights advanced, their gloved hands pulled back for a barrage of blows…

Only for their lights to go dim and their forms to go limp.

"That's a new trick."

Pyrrha whirled around to the stands, her mother deftly closing down the control panel and striding into the arena. Her eyes widened, her golden aura dissipating into nothingness.

"Mother!" She squeaked. "How long have you been standing here?"

"Long enough," Scarlet replied. "I came to speak with Professor Lionheart about allowing us to use his facilities, only for him to inform me you'd been his meeting right before and had already asked. Care to explain?"

Pyrrha nervously rubbed the back of her head. "Well, um, I wanted to work on… that thing I just did on my own for a bit. Before I showed it to you."

"Uh-huh. And you didn't want me to see it, whatever it is, before because?"

"Because I can't control it," Pyrrha confessed, feeling it was the easier statement over explaining the existence of magic. She'd deal with that in time, along with her mother Fairy Tail mark. "It's just… surging with energy and pushes me forward so fast. I can barely keep it going straight. Ruby described it as flowing through me, but no matter how much I focus, I can't control its speed."

Scarlet raised an eyebrow. "Is that it?"

Pyrrha blinked in confusion. "Is that… is that not enough?! If I can't control it, then I'm useless! I won't be able to help anyone! I'll be dead weight, and they'll die trying to save me and then I'll lose…"

Her words cut off mind-rant as she realized she raised her voice to her mother. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean—"

"No, it's alright, Pyrrha," Scarlet assured her, gently taking her daughter's hands in her own. "Just because your body is nearly recovered doesn't mean you are. Don't let anyone tell you that you need to rush yourself getting better."

If only that were true. Her mother meant well, but Salem's plans endangered all of Remnant. She didn't have time to wallow in self-pity, she needed to get stronger.

Scarlet smiled. "Besides, it's good to see a bit of fire in you again. You haven't been like that since they started calling you invincible. Beacon was good for you."

"Yeah, it was," Pyrrha agreed, her eyes twinkling with memory. "What did you mean? When you said, 'Is that all'?"

Her mother chuckled, a light sound that always amazed Pyrrha that it could come from such a strong source. She took a step back and drew a broadsword with a winged hilt from her side, the same one she'd wielded when she'd met Aunt Rouge so long ago.

She didn't give even a hint of warning before lashing out with a quick slash. Acting on instinct long-ingrained from training, Pyrrha activated her semblance and shifted the blade to right, the steel missing her right shoulder by the barest of margins.

"That's what I meant," Scarlet pronounced, letting her sword fall to her side. "You already know the answer to this trouble. You're just too caught up in panicking to see it right in front of you."

Pyrrha looked down to her hands, the black shimmer of her polarity momentarily flaring. "My semblance?"

Scarlet nodded. "When you first unlocked it, you couldn't activate it without summoning every scrap of metal in the house. You nearly lost an eye to our good silverware. Trying to regulate it didn't help, that was just like putting your thumb in front of a hose. All the water still came, just even stronger out the smaller opening. In the end…"

"I had to learn to aim it."

It all made sense. Her semblance's power was always constant. She could put more will behind it to increase its force, but there was always a relatively high base level. That was why it had been so simple for her to unleash the blast that destroyed Penny without thinking. She hadn't learned to control her semblance's power, but its target and where she wanted that target to go. Her soul would then answer her call to fulfill her desires. If her magic worked similarly, clamping down would do nothing but shoot her out of control.

She couldn't command the flow, but she could guide, ever so subtly as she needed to. It was perfect.

A grin blossomed across her face. "Thanks, mom."

"No problem, my little warrior," Scarlet said. "And don't worry. Meteor may be difficult to master, but I have no doubt you'll have it down in no time."

Pyrrha's smile suddenly evaporated. "What did you say?"

"Huh? That trick of yours may be difficult to master—"

"No, no," Pyrrha cut in. "You called it Meteor."

"I didn't—" Scarlet's face fell, overtaken by a mask of befuddlement. "I… I did. It just seemed… right, in my mind. I don't know why. Is that what it's called?"

Pyrrha's eyes darted between her mother's eyes and her Fairy Tail mark. She may not have known what the spell was actually called, but the fact that Scarlet had named it so offhandedly added another tic to the column that her mother knew more about magic than she was letting on, even if she didn't know she did. And that meant keeping her in the dark on the matter wouldn't get them anywhere.

Scarlet raised her sword, putting a fresh smile on her face. "Well, what do you want to do next? Go a round, or tell your mother what exactly this new trick of yours is? Because unless the definition of polarity is different in Vale, it's certainly not your semblance."

"The latter," Pyrrha decided. Professor Lionheart was only a few halls away if she needed clarification on any details. There would never be a better time. "Mom, what's your favorite fairytale?"

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

" _I call this, 'The Utter Defeat of Moulin Rouge'!"_

" _Ha! You've never beaten me at pool, utterly or otherwise."_

" _Care to put that to the test?"_

 _Gray chuckled as Erza and Bisca teased each other, the Queen of the Fairies smirking at the gunslinger as she sank her first shot of their game. It was certainly quieter than his various spats with Natsu, or indeed Erza's fights with Mira in their younger years, but with the flame-brain away, it was nice to hear a little friendly competition in the guild. Macao and Wakaba were even placing bets on how the match would go, as well as how much property damage would occur before it was over._

 _He was down for a hundred jewels on Bisca._

 _Weiss staggered over and plopped down at his side._

" _Rough day?" he inquired._

" _When Ruby suggested going to the billiard hall, I assumed she actually knew how to play billiards!" his protégé complained. "But no, she's only 'figured it out' from watching Natsu of all people!"_

 _Gray glanced over at Ruby and Wendy, where the Sky Dragon Slayer was fervently trying to convince her friend that, no, billiards was nothing like baseball._

" _It looks like his idiocy is contagious after all. Weird, you'd think she'd seen Yang play it at least once," he noted, before he turned to the huntress next to him. "I'm a little surprised that you know how to play though. Billiards and pool aren't exactly considered high-class games in this world. Is it different enough on Remnant that an aristocrat knows the rules?"_

 _Weiss frowned and looked away. "Not exactly. My father married into our family, but before that he worked in our security department. He turned my grandfather on to the game and for a few years, there was a table in our house, even a few parties with it. I learned the rules by watching."_

 _Gray cocked an eyebrow. "I take it that it didn't last."_

" _The upper class of Atlas has never been a fan of deviation. And my father had wanted to join them his entire life," Weiss whispered. "The parties stopped when I was six. The table was gone before I was seven. And my father became quite popular among his new peers soon after, though, there was a lot more to that than just dropping a game."_

" _I can imagine," Gray noted. For a few moments, the two just sat there in companionable silence, the wacky antics of their fellows bringing life to their solemn figures, flashes of light reflected in cold pillars of ice._

 _Eventually, Gray rose to his feet, holding out a hand to his friend. "Well, you up for a game?"_

 _Weiss glanced up in surprise before smirking at him. "Are you going to play without a shirt?"_

 _Gray cocked an eyebrow and looked down at his bare chest, his hand already clutching the waistband of his pants. He smacked his palm away and sighed. "Damnit."_

 _Weiss covered her mouth with her palm and giggled. "Seriously, is that stripping thing really just a side effect of the training? It seems ridiculous."_

" _Honestly, I have no clue," Gray confessed. "Ur just did it when she was training me and Lyon, and neither of them did it without meaning to, same thing with Ultear…"_

" _Ultear?" Weiss repeated after her teacher trailed off. "That's your sister, right? The one that worked with Erza's not-fiancée?"_

" _Yeah, there's a bit more to it than that but… well, she's gone now," he explained. "I'm not exactly sure what happened, but I know she's gone."_

" _I'm sorry."_

" _Thanks," he sighed. "She did a lot of terrible stuff. Ruined lives. Tried to kill us. Did kill a lot of other people."_

" _Oh," Weiss remarked, her face twisted in confusion. "And… this is someone you miss?"_

 _Gray shrugged. "She was my master's daughter. And helped us out more than once. Is that such a surprise?"_

 _Weiss frowned. "I don't know. I know the guild believes that an enemy can become a friend. And I know that people make mistakes trying to do the right thing, it's one of the reasons I forgave Blake for whatever she might have done in the White Fang. But… when does it become too much? When do a person's actions become so horrible that their good intentions no longer matter? I'm not saying you shouldn't mourn her but… from the sound of it, what she did was unforgivable."_

" _And yet, I forgave her."_

 _Gray walked over to the wall and snatched them both a pair of pool cues, ducking under stray ball launched by Ruby. He held out the long stick to the white-haired girl._

" _I can't speak for all the people Ultear hurt, but what I could forgive her for, I did. Because I wanted to. It's not justice, that's for courts and laws and that crap to decide. But forgiveness is personal. No one can make me forgive anyone and no one can say I can't forgive anyone. And the same thing applies to you, and your father."_

 _Weiss' eyes darkened. "I don't want to forgive him. I won't."_

" _Then don't. No one can decide he deserves your forgiveness but you."_

" _I'm not worried about that," she snapped. "I worried about whether I'll deserve forgiveness."_

" _Huh?" Gray tilted his head to the side. "If this is about the cathedral, Master's already smoothed everything over with the city council—"_

" _It's not that," Weiss declared, keeping his voice low as their friends continued their games. She stood and walked past Gray, putting her hands on one of the pool tables and leaning over the edge. "I want to restore the honor of my family name. But I'm not a fool. I know that my father's distinct lack of principles is a rather large factor in his success in business. My grandfather brought him on in part because the company was starting to flounder. So, despite wanting to rise above him, I'm not sure if I'll be able to purge his influence without doing horrible things as well."_

" _Like stripping?"_

" _Like… what?"_

 _Weiss caught her hands just as they'd started pushing down her skirt, whirling around on Gray with a scowl._

 _The ice mage just smirked. "The only person who can make you do horrible things is you. Maybe, if you were alone long enough, pressed hard enough, you might make a mistake thinking it was right. But…"_

 _He pointed his stick over her shoulder, leading her eyes over to where Wendy was currently trying to get Ruby to cough up the chalk tip that she'd somehow gotten stuck in her throat._

" _I don't think you'll be alone any time soon."_

" _Not unless she chokes," Weiss snarked, though her wistful smile betrayed her true fondness. Besides, Wendy was their healer, Ruby would be fine._

 _The white-haired girl snatched the pool cue her teacher had been offering her and turned to face him fully. "Don't expect me to go easy on you just because you're my teacher."_

 _Gray returned her grin, taking a step closer. "Wouldn't dream of it. There's no fun if there's no challenge."_

" _Oh really? You think you can take everything I can dish out?"_

" _I know I can. Doesn't matter how hard you pound me; I'll just turn it right back around on you."_

" _I'd like to see you try. If you don't take your pants off with your first shot."_

" _Ah! Stop flirting!"_

 _Gray raised an eyebrow at the familiar shout, not even bothering to glance back at the deep blue coat he knew would be there. He was grateful that Juvia had made an effort to restrain herself since the mountain, even more than she had after the Grand Magic Games, but this outburst was more confusing than normal. Flirting? What was she talking about? He and Weiss had just been talking._

 _Strangely, Weiss' cheeks suddenly burst out in red. "I'll... go get the triangle."_

 _The huntress skipped off to snatch the tool to set up the game, leaving Gray behind to scratch his head. What was he getting himself into?_

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

What had she gotten herself into?

Weiss had been to many of her father's galas before but her time at Beacon and on Earthland had made her forget just how utterly _boring_ the parties were. Really, as aggravating as it was to be glued to Jacques' side like a lifeless trophy, the idle, arrogant conversation he and his peers engaged in wasn't entertaining in the slightest. Things were so dull that she was actively remembering not to strip, just because the mental exercise provided her with something to do.

The business discussions were quite simple. Her father insisted to his fellows that the SDC paid faunus the same wages as their human workers, which was technically true. Very few humans were desperate enough to seek work in the dust mines. There were other jobs that didn't risk substandard working conditions, cave-ins, and subterranean Grimm, and most every employer in Atlas would hire them over a faunus any day of the week, no matter who was more qualified. The unlucky few that swallowed their pride and took the position working beside 'the animals' got the same pittance they did, if they survived long enough to get it.

They were mentions of other issues, whether the SDC owed the faunus migrants they drew in from Mistral, the only place on Remnant less friendly to them than Atlas, jobs at all, but on the whole, Weiss needed a break from the stupidity. She made to evacuate the conversation only for her father to snag her wrist.

"Where are you going?" he demanded, his voice soft to avoid attracting unwanted attention, but undeniable with an edge under it.

Weiss rolled her eyes. "I headlined the concert, didn't I? It would be poor form if I didn't make the rounds."

"We will make them in time. Be patient."

"What do you think will make people feel more flattered?" Weiss countered. "To be spoken to once by the entire Schnee family, or to be so important that both the CEO and heiress individually think that they just _have_ to meet them?"

Over on her father's opposite side, she caught Whitley's mouth rise into an impressed smirk. Though, did she detect a note of reluctance in it as well? Perhaps that she was abandoning him to Jacques for the evening. She'd have to make it up to him later, ask Klein if his tastes had changed to make sure she could give him a proper apology gift.

Jacques himself held her gaze for a moment longer, before releasing her gloved hand. "Good thinking, my dear. Make sure not to give anyone more time than they're worth."

She nodded and promptly took his advice, leaving him behind.

For all the lack of levity in the proceedings, the ballroom chosen for the gala after the charity concert was quite beautiful, pale blue and white marble gently reflecting the light of the crystal chandeliers as the shattered moon's glow filtered through the full-body windows. Outside, numerous balconies were fully decorated with mazes of bushes and shrubbery, in case any of the aristocrats inside tired of basking in their peers' company and wanted to pretend to walk in nature for a spell. It was a testament to Atlas bombast with just a hint of Mistralian elegance.

As for the guests, Weiss had a hard time telling them apart. They were all dolled up in the latest fashions, with more makeup caked on their faces than was probably healthy. She'd had Klein catch her up on which ones were at the very least tolerable human beings, along with the few who were amazingly decent people despite the elevated station they'd either been born in or climbed to. She'd make her rounds just as she'd promised father, see if she could endear herself to any possible allies, but first… she just needed to decompress. Just a moment to herself.

Perhaps seeking some semblance of better days, she made her way over to artwork display. Since many would need more than the impoverishment of the less fortunate to be charitable, the gala also included an auction of some of the finest Vale style artistry Jacques could commission, the crowning jewel being an exquisite painting of Beacon in its prime, a sizable note below the frame proclaiming that all proceeds would go to the recovering kingdom.

A relieved sigh passed through Weiss' lips. For all that the party was a publicity stunt, at least she was legitimately doing good. Jacques' pride wouldn't allow him to let anyone skim the profits of the event, ensuring Beacon would receive a significant boost to its rebuilding funds. And if the school could return to operational status by the next semester, she could return to her friends all the faster and they could get started on the Fairy Sphere mystery. With any luck Wendy's sensibility would ground Ruby enough in her absence to keep Yang and Blake under control.

She would return to her friends. It would take some time, but she would do it.

"It's beautiful, isn't it."

' _Oh, for the love of…'_

She briefly glanced to her side to see just what fool had roused her from her blissful solitude. Dark blue hair brushed over one eye, an embroidered black vest and matching tie over a maroon shirt, plaster grin that thought it was charming, ugh. It was like looking at Neptune except without his genuine well meaning.

She closed her eyes. Perhaps the boy wasn't as horrible as she suspected him to be, perhaps he was, but either way, she was not in the mood to deal with cheesy pickup lines—

"You two match."

Weiss let out a long, deep breath, still not turning to face the fool. She had not missed these interactions.

"Yes, it's a lovely painting," she spoke, trying to infuse her voice with every ounce of her vast disinterest, hoping he would get the message.

Sadly, she had too much faith in horny teenage rich boys.

"So, that was my attempt at breaking the ice," he said, still leaning against the security rope surrounding the artwork in a manner he must have thought was charming. "How am I doing so far?"

"You are leaving a lot to be desired."

"Heh, well, I've always appreciated honesty," the boy chuckled awkwardly. He extended his hand. "Henry Marigold."

"Weiss Schnee," she replied, offering her hand for a moment just to be polite.

"I know, I saw your performance. You were wonderful. And I promise I'm not just saying that because you're pretty," Henry said. "Honestly, remember?"

Weiss turned back to the painting. If he couldn't read her mood and insisted on continuing his futile attempts to woo her, she was just going to let him flounder. He'd have to get bored eventually.

"So," he began, turning to the painting. "You thinking about buying it?"

"No. I don't think so."

"Yeah," Henry smirked. "Kind of pricey for a painting."

Weiss' eyes narrowed. "It's to raise money."

"Oh, really?" Henry asked. "For what?"

" _For what?_ "

The asshole chuckled, as if he'd just said something funny instead of disrespecting all the people who'd fought and died defending Beacon. "I'll admit, I only come to these parties for the food and drinks."

He swiped a flute of champagne of the tray of a passing waiter. "And the extraordinary company."

Weiss' hands closed into fists just as the jerk raised the drink to his mouth… only for nothing to come out?

"What in the world?" Henry remarked, examining the glass, only to find the alcohol frozen. "How the heck…"

Weiss couldn't help but raise an eyebrow in confusion as well. She hadn't done that, so how had the liquid been frozen?

"Extraordinary company requires a bit of common sense to go along with it, don't you think?"

Weiss' eyes widened. She recognized the voice instantly, but how could he be here?

She whirled around to her opposite side, finding another young man leaning forward across the painting's security rope, clothed in a finely pressed tuxedo more expensive than anything he would normally have been caught dead in. His black hair was combed back and washed, absent of all its usual spikes, but that only made his dark blue eyes stand out more, like the center of a calm maelstrom, as paradoxical as that was.

"Excuse me?" Henry squeaked at the new arrival. "We were in the middle of a conversation."

"No, you were in the middle of insulting a veteran of the Fall of Beacon. Which you might have known if you'd bothered to read the plaque right in front of you," the dark-haired man countered. He turned to Weiss, revealing his face in full as an apologetic look crossed his mouth. "I'm sorry for what you had to go through."

"Thank you," she replied, offering her hand. By all appearances, it was him, but she had to be sure. Disregarding the multitude of disguise magics there were, this could just be her wistful mind playing tricks on her. "Mr…"

"Fullbuster. Gray Fullbuster," he smirked, taking her hand. "Care for a dance, Ms. Schnee?"

Weiss grinned. Her old teacher had a lot of explaining to do, where he got that tuxedo and how he got into the invitation-only party for one. He had called her Ms. Schnee instead of Weiss, which meant that for some reason he didn't want anyone watching to think they knew each other. She'd figure out why he was being so cloak and dagger later, but for the moment, she was just relieved that she was no longer alone in this mess. She had a friend at her side. "It would be a pleasure, Mr. Fullbuster."

Gray returned her smile and the two of them took off for the dance floor, leaving Henry Marigold behind to stammer in confusion.

* * *

 **Fullbuster. Gray Fullbuster. He takes his martinis stirred, with plenty of ice.**

 **Ah, and so begins a set of arcs that I'm really looking forward to telling. Weiss and Gray's arc in Atlas is going to be very different from Weiss' canon Volume 4 arc and I can't wait to craft their tale of espionage, double-crosses, and betrayal. It, along with Blake's current arc on Menagerie, are some of the sections that most made me want to tell this tale. I hope I can do it justice.**

 **An extra huge thank you to my patrons: ArcherMcMuffin, Gregg Tracton, Keith Traction, StabKingPro, Annaya Chan, Nora Okonus, Paula mandel, and KefkaesqueXIII.**

 **Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!**

 **Go Forth and Conquer!**


	19. Chapter 18

**xenosaiyan had matters this week that required his full, undivided attention, so he did not get the chance to beta this chapter. All mistakes are my own.**

 **If you wish to support me and my college tuition, please check out my P a treon for future chapter summaries, story ideas and more: p a Treon.(c om) (backslash) themaster4444**

* * *

"Well, that's quite the story," Weiss remarked. She and Gray twirled around each other, her heels clicking across the floor as the string quartet filled the air with a light and pleasant concerto. The ice wizards were not the only couple on the dance floor, but the others were either enjoying the music or engrossed in their own conversations, leaving teacher and student to exchange information with impunity. "How in the world did you all survive the entire guild, a band of psychotic fifth-generation Dragon Slayers, and this White Witch person? Even if Juvia wasn't there fighting against you, that seems like more than the Strongest Team can handle, even with Sitara's help."

Gray shrugged. "By the skin of our teeth, I'd imagine. Natsu was poisoned before the fight even started and Wendy and Carla were hurt so bad that Lucy had to put them in a Fairy Sphere to protect her. Are you sure they're alright?"

Weiss flashed him a warm smile and nodded. "They were last I saw them. Wendy was unconscious when father forced me back here, but the doctors said she was fine. They're with Ruby and the others on Patch."

"That's a relief," Gray sighed, his hand clutching Weiss' side just a bit tighter. "Thank you for keeping them safe."

"Of course, they're my guildmates too," Weiss replied. "Since you're here though, I imagine you ended up in a similar situation to her?"

The Ice Devil Slayer cringed. "I left my guard down for a second and Gildarts nearly ripped my chest open. Would have, if Sitara hadn't pulled me out of the way, and I still would have bled out if Lucy hadn't put me in a sphere. Next thing I know, I'm waking up in a back alley in Mantle."

"You had clothes on, right?" Weiss cocked an eyebrow. "For that matter, how do you have clothes on now? I don't think I've ever seen you wear anything this long, let alone a tuxedo."

Gray smirked. He spun her out in their dance before pulling her back in, closer than before. An outsider observer might have thought that he was attempting to seduce her with his body heat (and Weiss wouldn't deny the slight blush that flashed over her cheeks), but his true purpose became clear when he guided her hand to his chest. As her palm glided across the silk, a sizable square patch protruded out just a bit farther than the rest in the same manner as Weiss' own gown.

"You too, huh?"

"What can I say? Painful it may be, duct tape does its job," Gray noted. "I found out pretty quick that my habit wouldn't be as tolerated here as it is back home."

Weiss couldn't help but giggle. "Yes, public indecency is rather frowned upon here."

"Quite. Took me a few months before I could get enough money for the tape—"

"Months?" Weiss cut in. She halted their dance immediately and pulled him over to the cocktail tables. She didn't want to split her attention for this explanation. "Wendy only appeared a few weeks ago. How long have you been on Remnant?"

Gray grimaced. "Thirteen months. I've been trying to figure out a way to get to you since I realized where I was."

"Thirteen months? What magic could have possibly let you out then?" Weiss noted. "I would have only just arrived at Beacon then."

If Gray had arrived in Mantle with nothing but the clothes on his back, he would have been stuck in an unknown, overcrowded city with no money or identification. And since Fairy Tail wasn't exactly fond of thievery, he would have had his work cut out for him making ends meet day to day, let alone finding out where she was, smuggling himself out the kingdom and into Vale, and then tracking her down at the school. In hindsight, it was probably for the best he didn't. Thirteen months ago, she hadn't even become friends with Ruby yet, let alone gone through Sitara's book and met Fairy Tail. Which raised a great many questions about the temporal mechanics of interdimensional travel, since Gray had lived more than two years since she'd last seen him but ended up on Remnant a year before she'd met him, but ultimately a more mundane concern occupied her mind at the moment.

"How did you get in here?" she inquired. "Don't get me wrong, I'm ecstatic to see you, but this isn't exactly a party you can sneak into."

For the first time in their conversation, a wary frown crossed Gray's face. "That is a long story. I'll tell you the rest of it when I can, but the short version is that I was working as a delivery driver for less reputable people than I would have liked and got pulled over. Didn't have any ID, so the police took me in, but someone came and bailed me out…"

"But _really_ , does it come as any surprise what happened to Vale?"

Weiss' body froze as that shrill, callous voice cut through the air. Gray's voice teetered off and they both glanced down at the area where the high socialites of Atlas were still mingling, specifically a husband and wife pair who were attracting more and more of a crowd. She had no idea who they were, but she could already tell she'd want to punch the both of them in the face.

"It was a long time coming if you ask me," the wife continued, relishing in the scores of eyes that were turning her way.

The husband was far less engrossed with the attention, plastering on a nervous smile as he leaned into his spouse's ear. "Honey, please, this isn't—"

"What? You said the same thing last night!" The wife trampled over him, gesturing grandly as if she was an orator on a stage. "If they're so _arrogant_ to think that they can get by without proper kingdom defense, then I say _good riddance_."

Weiss's veins flooded with ice, images of thousands of Grimm rampaging through her school, of acquaintances she'd passed in the hall lying dead at her feet, of a one-armed, broken _Yang_ lying unconscious at her feet, flashing past her eyes. Black frost coated the back of her gloves as she shot to her feet. She was going to tear that pompous arrogant _bitch_ 's head off and then freeze her solid for a thousand years!

Only Gray's sudden grip clamping down on her wrist stopped her from unleashing her frozen vengeance, forcing her to whirl about to face her guildmate, who subtly shook his head.

"It's not worth it."

"Not worth it?" she whispered furiously, barely able to keep her fury from escalating her volume. "Did you hear—"

"I heard," he insisted. "But who can do more damage to her? An emotional girl assaulting her at a party, or the heiress of the SDC who can make the entire kingdom listen?"

" _You_ are telling _me_ not to get emotional?"

He looked away, conflicted. "I don't know what you went through at Beacon, but is this really the battle you want to pick?"

Weiss could barely believe what she was hearing. The man who fought with Natsu over the slimmest disagreement was telling her to turn the other cheek. To let this pasted hag insult her friends who'd fought, and suffered, and died defending Beacon from Cinder's attack.

And yet, with her initial instinct of vengeance cooled just a bit, she could see his point. Even if Gray didn't know about her tenuous position with her father, such a public outburst would obliterate any meager standing with him she'd been able to recoup since her return. Part of her… most of her, didn't really care about that, thinking that Jacques' approval was hardly a prize worth seeking. But Beacon still needed whatever support he could offer, especially with the general's dust embargo, and for that, she needed to remain in his good graces so she could influence him to give it. Once the school was rebuilt, once she was back with her friends, the words of one idiotic socialite striving for her sixty seconds in the spotlight wouldn't matter.

Reluctantly, she pulled herself back to the table, Gray releasing his grip. "I hate this."

"No arguments there," he concurred, his hand continuously closing into a fist as the woman continued with her tirade. "But I've learned from experience that vengeance usually doesn't help anyone. Anger is only useful as long as you're controlling it and not the other way around."

"Sounds like something Master Makarov would say," Weiss bitterly noted. "And something Natsu and Yang would need to hear."

"Believe me," Gray grimaced, a note of shame in his voice. "Everyone needs to hear it."

Weiss raised an eyebrow. She was certain that there was a story behind that statement, even if it was unconnected to his arrival on Remnant. She'd like to hear it one day. Her old teacher was strangely a bit more somber than she remembered.

"Good riddance, you say?"

Weiss's gaze was drawn back to the woman and her husband, a new voice, one that was somewhat familiar, but she couldn't quite place, entering the dialogue.

Upon seeing the speaker, it became obvious why she'd recognized them. Her father had been quite avid that she keep up to date on Atlas' political sphere as well as its business world, claiming that the two were more connected than most realized. As such, she'd watched and listened to plenty of speeches delivered by the kingdom's most notable politician of the last few years.

Esper Rosenflos strode through the crowd like a moon goddess descended from on high, parting the tides as she glided into the center of attention. She was barely taller than Yang, but her simple white gown revealed enough tasteful hints of her full figure to know that a mature woman laid underneath. Deep black hair flanked her eyes, like the curtains of the night sky surrounding a pair of golden moons. Honestly, it might have been her own longing, but the Atlas Council Chairwoman looked a bit like an older Ruby.

The woman who'd been so confident before took a fearful step back, her husband coming forward to shield her from the new arrival. "Madam Chairwoman, please, she didn't mean it…"

"Of course, I did!" his wife sputtered, shoving her spouse aside, driven by some inane will to dig herself deeper, even as her terrified face made it clear she had no idea what she was doing. "If Vale is unable to keep itself safe, then we shouldn't have to bother shouldering their ineptitude."

Weiss' teeth gnashed against each other, but her anger shifted to a hint of sadistic pleasure when the foolish woman shrank back under Esper's calm glare.

"If Vale is unable to keep itself safe? But Vale didn't fail to keep itself safe, did it?" the chairwoman pointed out, like a schoolteacher explaining a painfully obvious point to a lagging student. "Atlas provided the security for the festival. We guarded them with a fleet and an entire squad of specialists. And our enemy still circumvented our defense, the power of the greatest kingdom on Remnant. Do you think our General Ironwood wouldn't _bother_ with 'proper kingdom defense'?"

"Well, I… no. I did not mean to disparage the general's abilities. Of course, he did everything in his power to make up for those idiotic Valeans' failings—"

"The Valeans' only failing was in agreeing to our arrogant request to solely provide security for the festival," Esper cut in, a furious flame blazing behind her golden eyes. She turned around to the crowd, drawing them in to her rapturous fire. "Terrorists, the White Fang, and most especially, the Grimm. Our enemies are not weak. No _one_ kingdom alone can possibly hope to defend against them. The Atlesian Military is the most powerful force on this planet, but they cannot know the other kingdoms as their people do, cannot see all the shadows that our enemies can slip out from, like the cowards they are."

She raised her champagne flute, other notable figures in the crowd such as General Ironwood and even Weiss' father mirroring the gesture.

"That is why we are here tonight! Why you are all here tonight, heroes all!" Esper proclaimed, attracting more advocates with that hint of flattery. "Thanks to your generosity, we shall raise Vale up from the ashes of Beacon's fall and rebuild all humanity into a strong, united force against the Grimm and any other malcontents who would foolishly seek us harm! To Atlas! To Vale!"

"To Atlas! To Vale!"

Weiss couldn't yet bring herself to join in on the first chorus, but she happily echoed the second. Especially when she saw the initial bitch who'd started the whole debacle scurry off with her husband at her back. The crowd dispersed soon after, the socialites roused by the politician into thinking they were on the right side of history. Perhaps they were.

"Quite impressive, isn't she? They're eating out of her hand."

A glaring dark-haired woman stepped up to Weiss and Gray's table, clothed in a shimmering grey dress. The elder ice wizard frowned at the new arrival.

"You don't need to babysit me."

"Calm down, Fullbuster, I'm your backup, not your shadow." The woman turned to Weiss, a small genuine smile overtaking her distrustful scowl. She extended a friendly hand. "Besides, you're not the only one who's been looking for a way to meet Winter's little sister."

Weiss lent a wary gaze to the woman, eyeing the jagged scar running down from her left eye, a more extreme version of the one that marred the heiress' own. She cordially returned the handshake. Winter hadn't sent many photos of her team home, but she had seen enough to know the huntress in front of her had reason for acting so familiar. "Drizzella Tremaine, it's a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance. Winter spoke fondly of you."

"Likely no less than she did of you," her sister's former teammate complimented. "Your performance at the Festival was quite exceptional, especially if you handled yourself as well as Ana says you did when things went south."

"Thank you," Weiss replied. "Though, as pleasant as this encounter is, Gray and I were in the middle of a private conversation."

"Say no more," Drizzella smiled suggestively. "Though, might I recommend continuing your talk out on in the gardens. Far fewer prying ears." She glanced at Gray. "I'll make sure you're left alone."

Gray growled, but reluctantly rose to his feet. Weiss cocked an eyebrow out of curiosity but followed her former teacher as they both left for the balcony doors. She glanced back to see Drizzella intercepting General Ironwood at their table.

"Always good to see you, Drizzella," the general assured his former student. "But there is a matter I need to speak with Ms. Schnee about."

"Headmaster, she's been through quite a lot lately, as you well know. Surely you wouldn't be so cruel as to interrupt her when she's having some alone time with a handsome boy?"

The insinuation stopped the most powerful man in Atlas in his tracks just as surely as it lit Weiss' own cheeks aflame. She was grateful that she and Gray passed through the glass doors out onto the balcony garden so that no one would have the chance to see her feverish blush.

Of course, once she was out in the myriad of hedges that formed the gardens, the thundering hubbub of the ballroom somewhat muted, she realized precisely what Drizzella's presence meant. Winter had told her before of her only teammate who didn't become a Specialist.

"Atlas Intelligence?" She inquired to Gray. "They're your backer?"

Gray sighed. "Like I said, I got pulled over and ray of sunshine over there and her mother bailed me out. Said they wanted to hire me on retainer. If I said yes, I got more money than I knew what to do with, a fake background with documents to back it up, and, most importantly, a chance to get in to see you once you got back from Vale."

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "Okay. That makes sense. But, why you? And why are you so wary about them?"

"Because they know I'm a wizard. They know _we're_ wizards."

"What?" Weiss gasped, her eyes wide. "How? A few months ago, I thought magic was a children's story, and you're from another world. Even if they know about magic, how could they possibly—"

Suddenly, Gray grabbed her and dived down into the hedges, a hand over her mouth to halt her speech. Her eyes flared with indignation for a moment before her guildmate raised a vertical finger to his lips in the symbol for silence across all worlds.

He then pointed out at the only minuscule gap in the thick greenery, through which she caught sight of her father and Esper coming up side-by-side. It suddenly became very clear why Drizzella had wanted them to move to the garden.

"I must say, Esper, sometimes I think I invite you to these little functions just to hear those wonderful speeches of yours," Jacques grinned, taking a sip of his champagne.

"Little function? Is that what you call a charity, Jacques? For shame," Esper replied, though her words lacked any true reproach when thrown by her joking smile.

Jacques' light chuckle confirmed there was no offense taken, a rarity from him. "Oh, I assure you, I take public relations quite seriously."

"Just not enough to fix the actual issues that endanger it."

Jacques shrugged. "I run a business, not welfare. I'm not the slave driver the White Fang and their radical fellows paint me as, so why should I acquiesce to their attempts to bankrupt me?"

Esper rolled her eyes. "It would take a thousand White Fangs to bankrupt you, Jacques."

The businessman's eyes suddenly narrowed. "Or one foolish general."

Weiss resisted the urge to groan. Of course, this wasn't just a simple PR stunt. Getting a meeting with the Council Chairwoman could take weeks, even for the head of the SDC, especially if General Ironwood were to work against the process. But a charity gala for a high-profile international tragedy? No statesman worth their salt could miss it.

"I take it from your words inside that you are not blind to Ironwood's recent blunders," Jacques continued.

Esper raised an eyebrow. "I don't recall insulting James."

"You're a politician. You did it politely," Jacques quipped, though without a smile. "Though, according to him, you also gave him the idea for this blasted embargo in the first place."

Esper sighed. "It came up in a discussion of necessary measures if Vale declared war for the Fall of Beacon. I didn't think he'd jump the gun like this. It paints a huge target not only for terrorist groups looking to arm themselves, but for the other kingdoms who'll think we're gearing up to restart the Great War."

"Yes, I can see how that would interfere with your little international friendship circle," Jacques noted. "So, can I count on your support to overturn this in the Council?"

"I'll do what I can," the chairwoman assured him. "But I hope that in return, you can provide me with a small favor?"

"Depending on the value of small."

"To you? I can think of nothing less," Esper said. "I am currently looking for a personal assistant, an intern to shadow me in everything I do."

Weiss' eyes widened. Menial as the task may have sounded, it would be a massive boon to whoever received it. If a person was trusted to work side-by-side with the Council Chairwoman, it would be a statement to all of Remnant that the Kingdom of Atlas had full faith in them, that they were capable of handling the rigors of the highest echelon. It would be a sign that the council themselves believed in their capabilities, a huge endorsement to whatever path the individual chose to follow in their life.

An opportunity like that was near priceless, even to a Schnee. If she could get it, her eventual ascendancy to the head of her family's company was practically ensured.

"I would like to offer the position to your daughter."

Weiss threw up her hand and froze her own mouth shut to contain her squeal.

Unfortunately, Jacques was not nearly as ecstatic at the idea of his heir receiving such an invaluable commendation. "Weiss? Why her, if I may ask?"

Esper shrugged. She stepped away from Jacques and meandered over to the hedges, her fingers gliding along the stems of each prickly rose. "Her performance in the Vytal Festival impressed me, as well as what Winter and Ana told me about her tenacity afterward. I miss mentoring a young, capable huntress."

"You assume that combat capability will translate to political competence."

"It did for me. Though, why are you arguing against this? I would think you'd be thrilled that I'm offering your heir the keys to the kingdom, so to speak."

"Heir, at present."

Weiss' eyes widened, black frost shimmering across the nearby leaves as she fought to contain her outrage, Gray clamping a hand on her shoulder to calm her down.

Fortunately, Esper turned around from the flowers before she could see the unusual cold. She narrowed her eyes in disapproval.

"You're going to disinherit her? Like Winter?"

Jacques shrugged. "Before Nicholas took me under his wing, I was quite the gambler. And perhaps the greatest lesson I learned in that time was to never put all my chips on one roulette. I forgot that lesson with Winter and she abandoned the family to become Ironwood's attack dog. I state with some pride that Weiss and Whitley are both far superior on that account."

Esper sighed. "Did you think that maybe there was a reason she fled to him?"

"Oh, don't start that again. All I have ever done, I have done for the good of the Schnee name, for our family legacy. I can't help it if some of my children are too weak to understand that."

Weiss' hands closed into fists. The Schnee name? Their legacy? That disgusting wretch! He married into their family! Its honor was not his to tarnish! Who was he to call them weak?!

Jacques looked down into his glass, swirling the liquid within. "To tell the truth, I've actually quite appreciated the changes I've seen in Weiss since her return. Where once she would whine and squabble like a child, she now reasons and negotiates like a proper human being. I did not wish to allow her to go to Beacon at first, but it seems keeping her away from James' influence has done her some good."

"And yet," Esper challenged. "You still think her unworthy."

The Schnee patriarch frowned, his mistrust reflected his golden drink. "She's exhibited an… unsettling temperament, like a bomb that could go off at any moment."

"Perhaps she is merely uncomfortable. Atlas has a very different environment than Vale."

"Atlas is her home. If she is not comfortable here, if she truly seeks to wander off and galivant around the world hunting insignificant Grimm, then she is not fit to reign here," Jacques declared, true, unyielding passion behind his words. "I will not entrust everything I have built, everything Nicholas built, to someone who's ideal of nobility is a glorified mercenary. And an outdated one at that."

"Nobility, such a pretty little word," Esper mused. "Though, I will admit that despite their valor, huntsmen are simply insufficient against the full power of the Grimm. We've all been hiding behind walls for far too long."

"Precisely," Jacques smirked. "Perhaps Weiss will come to her senses once she's had more time back home, but perhaps she won't. And were she to cause some unfortunate public incident, well, I believe Whitley will prove himself a more than worthy successor."

Esper frowned, turning back to the hedges. Her hand streaked through the branches, her fingers brushing so close that for a moment, Weiss was worried they might touch her or Gray. If they were found to be eavesdropping, her father would have her disinherited in an instant.

Fortunately, the chairwoman's hand pulled up just inches from the Fairy Tail wizards, brushing the black frost from a nearby rose's petals and plucking the flower outright.

"I assume Whitley is your substitute candidate?"

"I assure you, he's quite sensible," Jacques stated, no shortage of pride in his voice. "You still get the prestige and connections that come with mentoring a Schnee, he receives the endorsement and invaluable experience from working under your wing, Weiss is free to pursue her interests however wise or foolish, and most importantly, we can work together to end this damned embargo."

Esper scowled for a moment but nodded in the end. "I suppose. Though, be aware, James has only been able to keep the council from ending the embargo because they're keen on keeping the forces that attacked Beacon out of Atlas. My influence will help, but to truly change minds, we will need to prove that it is an ineffective measure."

"That shouldn't be too difficult," Jacques waved off. "The White Fang have always enjoyed raiding my supplies. Now that I'm being forced to stockpile, I doubt they'll be able to resist. Who knows? Perhaps it'll be so bad they'll have to grant you emergency powers."

"Please, don't joke about such a disaster, Jacques, even you," Esper replied. "I'll send over the paperwork tonight and Whitley can start on Monday."

"Excellent! Oh, and by the way," Jacques smiled, walking back towards the ballroom. "If you're worried about Atlas Intelligence interfering tonight, don't be. I've had Klein keep an eye on the Tremaine girl all night."

Esper frowned, glancing over the rose bushes. "You underestimate COMMAND ESR's paranoia."

"Perhaps, but I am more than familiar with his ruthlessness," Jacques scowled. "Now then, shall we rejoin the festivities?"

The chairwoman let her gaze linger on the hedges for a few more moments before turning back to her host. With that, the pair reentered the glass doors, disappearing back into their kingdom of decadence.

No sooner had they done so than Gray and Weiss leapt out of the bushes, the former cringing in agony, his chest somehow bare save for a set of deep red welts from the tape. Still, it only took him a few moments to collect himself and gaze worriedly on his sulking friend.

"Hey, are you alright?" he asked carefully. "You told me your dad was bad, but that…"

"He's exactly what he's always been," Weiss muttered, ice on her voice.

She'd kept her head down, made nice with the corrupt and arrogant upper class of the kingdom. She'd been reasonable and done everything she could to benefit her father as well as her friends. She had done nothing wrong, something he himself acknowledged, and yet he was still planning to cast her aside. Because she hadn't done _every_ little thing he'd demanded and shown him she had a temper within her, as if he had any ground to stand on criticizing her for that. As if he hadn't struck her mother before.

He would take it all away. Like it or not, the company was legally his. If he decided that he didn't want to give it to her, no power on Remnant could compel him to give it to her. And then the rot he'd installed in her family name would never be cleansed, the Schnee honor forever ravaged.

She could not let that happen. She _would not_ let that happen.

"Gray, why did Atlas Intelligence have you come here tonight?" she asked softly.

Her guildmate froze in the middle of repairing his abandoned tuxedo, unable to face her properly. "Two reasons. The first was to keep an eye out for any backroom, or back-garden, I guess, deals that the Council Chairwoman might make. I'm a recent hire, so even the people in the know don't recognize me yet."

"And being a wizard means you can handle anyone who does," Weiss finished. "And the second?"

"They wanted me to recruit you," he said. "I told them I'd ask just so I could see you, but if they try to force you, we'll just have to show them it isn't a good idea to mess with Fairy Tail."

Weiss grinned. "That we will. But why do they want me anyway? I'm one of the most well-known people in Atlas, I'm hardly fit for covert operations."

Gray's eyes narrowed. "I'm not entirely sure. All I know is that they think something big is in the works. A plot against the kingdom. And the big boss at Intelligence, COMMAND ESR, thinks the Chairwoman's a part of it."

"Ms. Rosenflos?" Weiss couldn't help but find that… unlikely. Politician she might have been, she was also one of the foremost advocates for international cooperation against the Grimm. Not to mention that people that both her sister and her father respected could be counted on one hand. Of course, she did have _her father's_ respect. That wasn't exactly an endorsement of her virtue.

"Honestly, I wouldn't trust any of them as far as I can throw them," Gray said. "Your father's a bastard, the chairwoman seems too good to be true, General Ironwood's paranoid, and Atlas Intelligence knows way too many things they shouldn't."

"So, what do you suggest?" Weiss inquired.

Gray shrugged. "Leave. You said Wendy and the others are in Vale. Now that I've got an ID, and you can provide the money, we can buy a boat or a bullhead and get the hell out of here. There's got to be some smuggler who doesn't need the CCT to go between kingdoms."

"If you want to leave and join up with Wendy, I'll gladly give you the money to do it."

Gray raised an eyebrow. "You're not coming?"

"Oh, trust me, there is nothing I'd like more than to reunite with Ruby and the others," Weiss explained. "But if I leave, I risk father claiming that he's done enough for Beacon after tonight. And he'll doubtlessly use our flight as the excuse he needs to disinherit me."

"Which means you'll lose your chance to take back your family's legacy," Gray noted glumly. They'd spoken enough about the matter on Earthland for him to understand just how important the task was for her, enough for her to have made every choice since before she'd left for Beacon based on whether it would help her achieve it. Well, almost every choice. Ruby and Fairy Tail tended to derail such carefully laid plans. But when push came to shove, there was no one she'd rather have at her back.

Gray sighed, finally getting his tuxedo back on good as new. "If you're staying, I'm staying."

Weiss couldn't help but frown worriedly. "Are you sure? I don't want to keep you from finding the other spheres."

"Wendy and Carla are safe with Ruby, and the other spheres will still be here once we're shown your old man what's what," he grinned, raising his hand in a subdued version of Fairy Tail's distinctive sign, his finger pointed at the starry sky. "You're family too, Weiss. No matter what happens, I got your back."

Weiss stood there gaping at him for a moment, before tears began to well in her eyes and she returned his smile. For the first time since she returned to Atlas, she truly felt like she wasn't alone. "Thank you. Thank you so much."

"No problem," he assured her. "So, I'm guessing this means you want me to set up a meet for you with Intelligence?"

"Yes," she nodded. "Maybe we can't trust them, but the only thing that will keep father from disinheriting me is if it would be public suicide to go against me. Which means we need to get public opinion on our side. I'd think an espionage organization will know a thing or two about that."

"That they would," Gray confirmed, smirking. "That they would."

Weiss grinned. She couldn't solve this the traditional Fairy Tail way, beating her father to a pulp would just provoke him and cost her everything. To get back her family's honor, she'd have to play his game for now.

And there was also the matter of this conspiracy that Intelligence thought was afoot. Even if the chairwoman wasn't involved, it was doubtful that the dedicated spies of the kingdom were grasping at shadows. After all, Cinder had made mention to the others about having a master. Who's to say that employer wasn't looking to add a second kingdom to her hit list? As a huntress, she couldn't leave such a threat unchecked.

She'd protect her kingdom. She'd restore her family.

After all, she was a Fairy Tail wizard.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

"Adam, I'm not going to repeat myself, so I want you to listen when I say that the White Fang _will not attack Haven Academy_."

From atop her simple wooden throne, flanked by two armed guards on either side, Sienna Khan glared down at her kneeling former protégé. For so long, he'd been her right hand, her sword against the humans' hate. Due to Ghira's pacifism, the White Fang had possessed few warriors capable of actually dealing with their foes once they had turned to violence. The young bull faunus had been a godsend, not only being capable of defeating all but the strongest of huntsmen, but training their ranks up to the point that they were capable of trading with any kingdom's military, in terms of skill if not numbers. There was a reason she'd trusted him to whip the Vale branch into shape after their reports had proved… insufficient.

But then he'd attacked Beacon Academy. Sienna may have been in favor of violent resistance to human oppression, but she wasn't an idiot. The White Fang may have been called terrorists by the kingdoms, and perhaps they were, but as long as they were just hijacking dust shipments, or delivering justice to cruel SDC executives, they had an air of noble vigilantism about them, the kind that allowed sympathetic citizens to think that sheltering them from the tyrannical authorities was perhaps the right thing to do. But attacking the huntsmen academies put them against the defenders of the world, casting them firmly as irredeemable villains in the public eye. Not to mention the Grimm were _everyone's_ problem. Huntsmen may have been hired to go after their organization at times, but their primary purpose was still ensuring the kingdoms still existed to be fought over. Attacking their training facilities was asinine, the move of a madman.

And yet, looking over Adam now, arguing back and forth over his actions and hearing him incessantly argue in favor of repeating his craven strategy, she could not help but worry it was a madman that was before her. Traits she had admired in the boy when she'd been grooming him, his will, his tenacity, his ardent devotion to the cause, now she saw them all twisted within him, like a beast hungry for its already wounded prey.

A beast she feared she may have trained.

"You have justified humanity's campaign against us, and for what?" she demanded. "Empty promises from a group of humans? Humans we still know nothing about and come and go as they please! These are not examples of strength, Adam. They are examples of your talents being diminished by short-sightedness!"

For a few moments, Adam said nothing, his new trio of long scars snaking down the center of his face, far too large to be hidden by his mask. When she'd asked what had given them to him, he'd merely replied, "A monster."

In time however, he rose to his feet. "If you're so curious about the humans, why not ask one of them yourself? Hazel!"

The doors to the throne slammed open, a towering, muscular man in a forest green vest marching into the chamber. His head and beard were a thick brown, yet his forearms were coated with vibrant yellow fur. If she wasn't already aware of the group he belonged to, she might have mistaken that for a faunus trait.

As it was, she was furious, leaping to her feet as her guards lowered their spears at the interloper. "You brought a _human_ to this location?"

"Apologies, mam," the human, Hazel said. "I don't aim to cause you any trouble. And if it makes you feel any better, I haven't been human in many years."

"You should hear what he has to say," Adam insisted.

"This is grounds for execution!"

"Mam, please," Hazel beseeched, his voice surprisingly earnest. "Nobody needs to die today. I'm just asking for a moment of your time."

The gigantic man proceeded to fall to one knee, supplicating himself at the steps of her throne. It was certainly a rare gesture for his kind to show such humility. Perhaps he honestly did want to work with them, Ghira had certainly recruited plenty of sympathetic humans into their ranks in his time. But that was before they'd started fighting back, and anyone who thought destroying the huntsmen academies was a good idea was not someone her organization wanted on their side.

"The longer you stay here, the less of a chance you have of leaving alive," she growled. If he was willing to put so much effort into this meeting, she'd at least give him the opportunity to get out alive. They'd have to move the base after he left, but it would hardly be an irrecoverable loss.

However, the human did not rise.

"I'll take those chances if you don't mind." He declared, raising his head to look her in the eye.

Sienna had seen many warriors in her life, human, faunus, men, women. None of them, even Ghira, even her, would feel confident escaping an entire base full of hostile combatants, though some young and stupid ones would declare they could, their voices full of youthful arrogance and bluster.

Hazel was not young, and his voice contained no arrogance. He spoke as if relating common facts, as if facing down entire terrorist cells was just something he did, hardly cause for concern. Perhaps he was counting on Adam supporting him if it came down to escape… but somehow she didn't think he was.

Deciding caution was the wisest choice of action Sienna resume her seat, her guards recalling their weapons. She motioned for the human to rise. Hazel did just that, nodding his thanks.

"You don't like me," he stated plainly. "You have no reason to like me. But you don't have to like me to get the results you want."

"I'm starting to doubt either of you fully comprehend what it is that I want," Sienna scoffed. "I want humanity to _fear_ the faunus, to know that we demand respect. I do not want to start a war with the humans that we cannot win!"

"Mam—"

"That's where you're wrong," Adam interrupted, striding in front his ally as Hazel looked on confused. The bull faunus paid him no heed and began to march up the steps of Sienna's dais. "We can win a war with the humans. Not only because we have the support of Hazel's master, but because the faunus are the dominant species on this planet. We're _better_ than humans. We have everything they have and more. Humans shouldn't just fear the faunus. They should _serve_ the faunus."

Sienna frowned, barely able to keep a furious growl from escaping her lips. She didn't know how her young protégé had descended into such madness, but as long as she lived, she would never allow such genocide.

"I've had enough of this conversation for tonight," she declared. "Guards, take them away."

She waited a few moments, only for the men at her sides to do nothing. Her eyes narrowed, a sneaking suspicion creeping through her mind as Adam's voice rose again.

"I will admit, Sienna. You were right about my popularity," he said, almost complimentary. "My followers in Vale already see me as the true High Leader. And many here in Mistral feel the same."

The doors to the throne room were thrown open, a squad of troops charging in with guns drawn. Sienna's personal turned on her, their spears now aimed at her chest.

"What are you doing?" Hazel demanded, no more pleased with the turn of events than Sienna herself.

"What's right for the faunus," Adam grandly proclaimed. "From this day forward, I will be the one to lead the White Fang!"

Sienna bared her teeth, her fist clench in absolute livid fury. She'd known the boy she'd trained had descended into madness, but she'd never imagined he go so far as to lead a coup against her. Nor that her guards would be so brazen as to take his side. She'd been caught unarmed and outnumbered, a dozen weapons trained on her. It was a disgrace, and as childish as it was, she was embarrassed at how easily he'd outmaneuvered her.

"If you think I'll just step aside and follow beneath you, you're wrong—"

She saw the sword as soon as she'd turned, already less than an inch from her gut. In her moment of fury, Adam had already sneaked under her guard, his blade inside the field of her aura even if she threw it up. In less than a second, she would be impaled. And Adam would corrupt her and Ghira's organization to wreak havoc upon the world. And there was nothing she could do to stop it.

" _Whoosh_."

Out of nowhere, a massive cyclone erupted around Sienna, tossing back Adam and her treacherous guards back through the air just before the former sword could stab her. The tiger faunus' wide eyes blinked in shock, herself untouched in the eye of the tornado. Her gaze instantly locked on the person who had spoken, the one who had saved her.

Hazel calmly turned around, facing the squad that had barged into the throne room, all the faunus frantically turned their guns on him.

" _Fwoosh_."

A wall of flame rushed out from the towering human and crashed in the grunts, the traitors screaming in pain as they were blasted out of the room.

Sienna had no idea why Adam's supposed benefactor was helping her, but she wasn't going to let the opportunity go to waste. She immediately activated her aura and charged her former bodyguard, unleashing a flurry of blows that knocked all four discombobulated traitors unconscious. She whirled around, expecting a slash from Wilt to be coming for her head, but no such crimson blade appeared. At least, not near her.

Adam roared in fury, his sword raised in an overhead slash at Hazel. "You dare betray me?! I thought your master was worried about Sienna cooperating!"

Hazel casually raised a hand and caught the crimson sword, not even flinching as the edge at his aura, as if the pain of the blow was negligible. He glared pitilessly as the bull faunus.

"Betrayal is the most grievous sin one can commit, a last resort only to save innocents," the human declared. "To be willing to do it in the midst of negotiations, for something as mercurial as power, you are unworthy. A mad dog, unfit to be a candidate, much less a Gate."

"Human bastard!" Adam screamed. Wilt, still caught in his enemy's grip, glowed a violent blood red. His semblance was barely charged, but trapped as he was with Sienna at his back, brute-forcing his way out was his only way out.

Even still, Hazel's face registered no concern. His free hand lanced forward, his open palm smacking into Adam's chest.

"The strength of the Bull. The wrath of the Calamity. _Ka-bam_."

The entire mountain base shook, specks of dirt and rubble crumbling from the ceiling. A shockwave, more a localized earthquake than anything, radiated out from Hazel's palm and straight into Adam. His aura broke instantly and the redhead shot backwards, crashing through the dais steps, at last, collapsing unconscious in a crater at Sienna's feet.

The tiger faunus glared at him in utter hatred. She raised her claws, ready to slit the bastard's throat for his betrayal.

"Don't," her eyes rose to see Hazel suddenly at her side. "Nobody needs to die today."

"He betrayed me," she snarled. "He tried to _assassinate_ me."

"I understand, believe me, I do," the human assured her. "But his treachery does not mean he is without use. A mad dog can still flush out prey."

Sienna didn't think any potential use could buy Adam another second of life on its own merit, but considering she doubted whatever use Hazel had in mind for him was very pleasant, she supposed she could grant his request. Besides, he had just put down perhaps the White Fang's greatest warrior with no effort at all. She didn't think she was in any position to deny him.

"I suppose thanks are in order," she noted glumly, lowering her claws. "But I hope you don't think this means I'm going to become your lapdog. Kill me if you will, but I will not sully the White Fang's name with another atrocity like the Fall of Beacon."

Despite her defiance, a small smile rose to Hazel's lips. "Like I said, all I'm asking for is a moment of your time to convince you that working with us is the best way to get what you want."

"By sacking the huntsmen academies?"

The large man let out a regretful sigh. "That was a strategy of a younger member of our group. She has a taste for theatrics, even if they unnecessary. Rest assured, the destruction of the academies is not necessary for our goals. We merely seek certain items hidden within them."

"Items?" Sienna repeated, incredulously. "You slaughtered children for 'items'?"

"Like I said, it was a wasteful strategy," Hazel mused glumly, his shame at the events quite audible. However, a moment later, her eyes hardened into stone as his fists clenched tight. "Unfortunately, if we had not attacked, then they would have died nonetheless. At least this way, they have fallen to put an end to the game, instead of just making sure an old, foolish _wizard_ can keep playing."

Sienna told a trepidatious step back, the utter contempt rolling of the perpetually calm man far more frightening than any of Adam's tantrums. Still…

"Wizard?" It was just too ridiculous.

Hazel let go of his fury with a sigh, turning to respectfully face her. "I don't expect you to believe me immediately, but I _can_ prove it. And if we can acquire the items we seek, the Relics, we have a chance to ensure that no child will ever have to fall to the Grimm ever again, to ensure that those that have did not die in vain. Lend us your strength, stand among the Queen's forces as a Gate, and we can annihilate the greatest scourge to ever plague this world."

"The Grimm," Sienna whispered, her mind desperately trying to process the insanity that was being related to her. "You're talking about destroying the Grimm. It's impossible."

"I once thought the same thing. But I assure, it is very possible. And just imagine what humanity would think of the faunus, if _they_ were the ones to… publicly, deliver them from such evil."

Sienna cocked an eyebrow. "Your 'Queen' won't take credit?"

"She has little care for public matters. It's part of why she acts through me and my compatriots." Hazel raised his hand." Now then, do I have your interest?"

"High Leader!"

Sienna and Hazel both turned to the open doors of the throne room, a mass of White Fang troops rushing in, only to grind to a halt at the sight of their fellows and the mighty Adam Taurus laid out unmoving.

"Take Adam Taurus and his allies into custody," Sienna commanded, rallying the grunts' rattled minds. Perhaps some of them were Adam's allies, his silent or open supporters, but with their idol, their Blood-Soaked Bull, helplessly unconscious at the tiger faunus' feet, they were suitably cowed by her not inconsiderable charisma. "They are traitors to the White Fang."

There were a few moments of hesitation, but before long, the grunts filed in and picked up the failed assassins, dragging them away like sacks of potatoes.

Sienna glared at them all on their way out, then turned back to Hazel, the only reason she was still alive to be furious at all. Adam may have been psychotic, but he would have done whatever was asked of him to maintain this Queen's support. Human or not, by siding against the nakedly ambitious coup, Hazel had certainly proved his honor.

She clasped the human's hand and the pair shook.

"I'll need proof that what you're saying is true," she warned. "And that your group is capable of doing it."

Hazel smiled, a surprisingly soft, pleasant thing. "That can be done. In fact, I believe Adam can help with it."

Sienna cocked an eyebrow. "With what?"

"Atlas."

…

…

…

"Something in Atlas?"

"No," Hazel assured her. "To prove ourselves to you, we will take the Kingdom of Atlas."

* * *

 **Yeah, so as you can see, Weiss' arc is going to be much more complex than canon. I like the Volume 4 arc, it has some great moments, the party especially, but it lacks a climax, with her escape into the night having little tension. Since Gray is present and provides Weiss with a confidant so she is not completely isolated, she is just barely able to keep from blowing up at the party and giving Jacques an excuse to cast her aside, giving her a more clear cut goal to obtain enough public adulation to make it an impractical move on his part. Of course, in that quest, she and Gray will have a bit more of a maze to navigate as they try to figure out who among Jacques, Ironwood, Esper, or Atlas Intelligence they can trust at any moment, as well as where Salem's agents may be hiding.**

 **We also see that Adam's coup does not go as well for him this time, with Salem's slightly different mission parameters allowing Hazel to step in, earning a tenuous trust from Sienna. Some may be concerned that a Volume 5 event is taking place in the Volume 4 equivalent, but based on my calculations, Blake's Volume 5 arc still takes place during the others' Volume 4 arcs, as it is noted her timeline is behind the others by several weeks in order for her training and arriving with the faunus militia to make sense (even though training a militia capable of dealing with armed terrorists in two weeks without proper facilities still stretches incredulity... I have many gripes with Volume 5, I apologize, brining them up here is not why anyone is here). Suffice to say, Adam isn't done in this story yet, but his role will not be as large as it has been in some of my other works.**

 **An extra huge thank you to my patrons: ArcherMcMuffin, Gregg Tracton, Keith Traction, StabKingPro, Annaya Chan, Nora Okonus, Paula mandel, KefkaesqueXIII, and Christian Howard.**

 **Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!**

 **Go Forth and Conquer!**


	20. Chapter 19

**If you wish to support me and my college tuition, please check out my P a treon for future chapter summaries, story ideas and more: p a Treon.(c om) (backslash) themaster4444**

 **Beta-ed by xenosaiyan**

* * *

Blake had never seen a Grimm when it wasn't on the hunt.

It wasn't something she'd thought about before. Who cared what Grimm did? Their entire purpose was to kill people. Whenever she'd seen the monsters before, it'd been when she was on a mission, when the beasts were stalking for prey or had found innocents they were foaming at the mouth to slaughter. After all that, what reason had she to believe they'd be any different away from humans? They were evil all the time, weren't they?

Except, looking over the legions and legions of gigantic Deathstalkers spread out across the desert… they were actually kind of boring.

They were just sort of… there, skittering across the sands, side by side. Grimm didn't eat, so they didn't hunt. They had learned that attacking the walls of Kuo Kuana would result in most of them dying, so they wouldn't attack without a massive burst of negativity to draw them in. They didn't breed or talk to each other, so there wasn't any social interaction between them. It was an utterly perplexing feeling to look over the bane of all humans and faunus and feel not terror or dread, but complete boredom.

Though, it was also quite intriguing. After all, if one looked over a bunch of humans or faunus, or especially a mix of both, there were going to be conflicts between them, either petty spats or brutal conflicts. But among the Deathstalkers before, none raised a claw towards each other. Perhaps it was just some nuance she was missing, but she wasn't so sure. Perhaps they just had no inclination to harm their kin.

Which, Blake noted with no lack of self-loathing, now included her.

She glanced down at her right arm, the black flesh of a Griffon completely coating her limb, long, razor-sharp talons in place of her fingers. Even such a small fragment of their essence conjured as a part of her, the rest of her still plainly the cat faunus she'd always been, and none of them even looked at her strangely. She felt like one of them, so they would not attack her. Useful, but limited. She'd already seen that the Grimm would scatter if she absorbed one, terrified of losing their consciousnesses, or whatever constituted them for their kind.

And if she attacked? None of them would hesitate to defend themselves.

She wasn't sure if her full-body form would attack them, or obey the intra-species pacifism on instinct, but she didn't want to risk getting mobbed by Deathstalkers so far out or picking a fight with any non-Grimm wildlife. So, recalling what she could of Mira and Elfman's stories, she'd been slowly mastering individual pieces of her Grimm state. Arms, legs, even the internal organs that let her shoot the Sea Feilong's lightning beam, she'd managed to conjure each of them and keep control of herself. And each time, she felt _it_. The sea of darkness.

No matter how much of a Grimm's form she took upon herself, it was always there. Less for the individual appendages, just a murky swamp up to her waist, but it was there. A pitch-black ocean of hatred and madness and the pure instinct to _kill_. It was near unbearable, but she needed to learn how to withstand it. This was her power, her burden. It was her responsibility to control it. She couldn't let what happened to Yang happen to anyone else.

But the sun was getting low, and her ethernano stock with it. She got a small boost when she absorbed Grimm, but she didn't have the time to chase an entire pack down after they scattered from her first target. There was nothing more she could do for the day.

Keeping her Griffon arm up, she trekked across the sands and out of the desert, a regretful frown etched on her face. When she'd ventured deeper into the island, she'd quickly sensed a familiar presence in the sky, the same kind of murky magic that had hung above Beacon Tower. Back at the school, she and the others couldn't possibly have known what they were dealing with, but now she knew it was a Fairy Sphere… somewhere.

The magic covered an enormous amount of sky, with her sensory abilities unable to pinpoint an exact location or height where whichever guildmate was locked away. And even if she could, it had taken an errant Fairy Glitter to awaken Wendy and Carla. The Sky Dragon Slayer had assured her that the unlocking spark didn't have to be that ridiculous, but Blake didn't have anything at the level she had described, except maybe the Sea Feilong's full power cannon. Which she couldn't use at its maximum potential unless she was in full-body form.

Another incentive to master her powers.

The shattered moon rose in the night sky when she arrived back at camp, Sun humming to himself as he fried a trio of trout over the fire. They had decided to make their home away from home at the edge of a palm tree forest about half a mile from the city walls. Their proximity to the defenses would keep away any errant Grimm and the very fact that they were outside civilization's protection would keep any White Fang her dad hadn't already kicked off the island from finding out that they were there.

"Welcome back," Sun grinned. "They're almost done."

"Thanks," Blake replied, coming to sit beside him. "You saved the best for last, right?"

"Yup. I'll have to head into town soon to restock, but these are gonna be the fishiest fish you've ever tasted." His eyes flickered to her Grimm arm and he cocked an eyebrow. "I take it training went well today? You usually disperse it entirely before relaxing."

Blake glared at her demonic appendage, willing it away in a rush of darkness. "Well enough. I'll take a stab at full-body in the next few days."

"Next few days? Don't you think that's a little fast?"

She shrugged. "We're on a clock. I need to master my powers, free whoever is in the sphere, and then we need to get to Haven. Salem isn't going to stop trying to take over the kingdoms just because we need training."

"Fair enough," Sun conceded. "Anything extra you want me to do to help you keep control? I can watch over you so you don't run out of magic in the middle of a Grimm horde."

"And get mauled if I spot you when I can't control myself? No," Blake refused. "Just warn the city militia about my weaknesses if I come near the palisade. Their guns won't be much use if I shadow clone my way out of all their shots."

Sun frowned. "If you don't, they'll have no way of knowing it's you. They'll kill you."

Blake glanced away, her amber eyes dancing with the fire's light. She knew she couldn't die for her friends, that wouldn't help anyone. But she couldn't live for them if it meant other people had to suffer.

"So, how was your day?" she asked, eager to change the subject. "Any progress on your magic?"

Sun sighed but obeyed her implicit request. He reached out his hand, his palm facing towards the sky, and closed his eyes.

Blake raised an eyebrow. "Is it invisible—"

"Wait for it."

She waited. She waited until the fire began to dim and she had to pull their dinner out of the blaze before it was burned black. In all that time, nothing happened.

At least, Sun peaked open his eyes, looked over his unmarked palm, and sighed. "I was hoping it'd be some sort of 'I need other people around to do it' thing. I've been trying all day and gotten nothing. I've been trying for _weeks_ and gotten nothing. I just don't… feel anything."

Blake placed a soft hand on his shoulder. "I told you it takes time."

"Just to sense the ethernano?"

"There isn't much on Remnant to sense."

Sun's brow furrowed in thought, an uncharacteristic frown marring his face. "And yet, Jaune and the others were able to start pulling it in after a day of training. Maybe I'm just not cut out for it."

Blake looked away in shame. She had her own theory on her friend's lack of progress, but she didn't have enough evidence to be sure, and she didn't want to dishearten him unnecessarily if she was wrong.

"Maybe… maybe I'm just not a good teacher," she wondered aloud. "Ruby was always a better people person, and Erza was more experienced than all of us put together."

"Don't say that," Sun replied. "You're a great teacher. You've had to focus on your training and you still got me this far."

"Which is how far exactly?"

Sun chuckled. "See, you're even learning to joke on the side."

Despite herself, a small smile crept onto Blake's face. Her friend met it for a moment, before his own slowly evaporated.

"I can't learn it, can I?" he asked numbly.

"What? Sun, of course you can—"

"Blake," he cut her off. "Please."

She paused, taking a large gulp as she gathered her thoughts. Then, she spoke.

"According to Qrow, Remnant has had almost no ethernano for a literal eon. Aside from Ozpin and Salem and the maidens, there is no record of anyone discovering magic. We know it's possible, but no one, over thousands and thousands of years has ever even seen it. Why? We know there's ethernano, if not much, so why has no one learned magic who Ozpin didn't say could?"

Sun nodded. "I follow. I assume you have a theory."

"There's ethernano on Remnant, but what if there are no origins to use it? Or at the very least, origins so small that they can't collect enough power for any spell. After all, if a body part doesn't serve some purpose, eventually evolution cycles it out."

"So… my origin isn't big enough? Or I don't have one at all?"

Blake groaned. "I don't know. For all I know, this could be complete nonsense. After all, even if Pyrrha is just a prodigy, and Ruby's eyes have kept her origin healthy, the chances of me, Weiss, _and_ Yang all having Earthland sized origins are less than minuscule."

"Unless the book had something to do with it."

"What?"

Sun shrugged. "Why not? You guys are the only ones who've gone through it, and whoever made it could have put some augmentation magic into it along with the dimension transporting, right?"

"That's… possible," Blake admitted. "I wouldn't put it past Sitara to try something like that."

Sun let out a long sigh and sagged forward, shaking his head in resignation. "It's a shame though. I try to help… and I can't."

Blake scooted closer to him. "Hey, this isn't your fault. It's just how it is."

"I know it's just… do you blame me for what happened at Beacon?"

"What?" the cat faunus squeaked, confusedly. "No! Of course not."

"Yang doesn't either. But I do. If Neptune and I hadn't jumped in when we did, Yang might have been able to get through to you," Sun noted glumly. "I thought learning magic, becoming strong enough to help you guys against people like Cinder, could be my way to make up for it somehow. I thought… just for a second, I thought I could be more than everyone's favorite dancing monkey."

For a moment, Blake couldn't find a response, simply staring blankly back at her friend. "I… I never knew you felt like that."

"Oh, don't me wrong, I love being a dancing monkey. I'm lovable, I'm badass, and put a smile on everyone's face. It's a good gig," Sun remarked. "But against people who can melt skyscrapers? Not much use."

Blake shot him a reassuring smile. "And here I thought you were here to keep me from blaming _myself_."

Sun managed to sit up and return her smirk. "Guess I'm not the best at practicing what I preach."

"Everyone tries, few succeed."

She leaned across the campsite and picked up the trio of fish on sticks, passing one to her friend. "I am glad you're here, Sun. And I'm thankful that you're willing to come so far, to a barren wasteland in a country you've never been to, so that you can help me."

Sun chuckled, ripping a bite out of his trout. "What are friends for?"

They tapped their sticks together in an impromptu toast and devoured their dinner under the firelight. A wonderful night between friends under the stars and shattered moon.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

 _Blake had done many things wrong in her life. She'd chosen a violent terrorist group over her parents, spent many years as a terrorist, hurt countless people, including her friends. Normally, the guilt of her actions weighed her down every day, tainted her every action and emotion…_

 _And yet, lying back in a hot spring, the delightfully warm water soaking over her muscles, made that guilt seem far less important._

" _This is amazing," She moaned, the steam seeping into her nostrils. "Seriously, I've been to every kingdom on Remnant, how have I never been to one of these before?"_

 _Lucy chuckled from across the bath. "Maybe you just never looked for them. I can't imagine any world without them."_

" _Eh, I don't know. My world can be pretty terrible, what with the Grimm and racism and… ah, you know, right now I don't really care about any of that," Blake sighed, sinking deeper into the hot spring. "Do you think they'll let us stay in here forever?_

" _That seems quite unlikely," Virgo claimed, popping up from under the water, the spirit's pink hair completely soaked. "Though if princess would like, we could continuously perform jobs while the two of you remained here. The constant income would allow us to bribe the proprietors."_

 _Lucy cringed. "Let's put a pin in that plan. I've still got to make rent this month."_

" _As you wish, princess." Virgo bowed, before rising with a grin. "Do you wish to punish me for my impudence?"_

 _The Celestial Spirit Wizard smacked her hand into her face. "You weren't being impudent, and I'm not participating in whatever crazy water bondage you've got in mind."_

" _Actually, I was wondering if Lady Blake might indulge me in a different kind of punishment," Virgo revealed. "It has been a long time since I encountered a Spirit Take-Over Mage, and Leo tells me the experience is still as unsettling as ever."_

 _Blake wasn't sure quite sure how to feel about that statement. "It's also quite dangerous. If I do it wrong, I could end up absorbing your soul."_

" _You haven't absorbed Leo's."_

" _Well, yes, but I've had Mira to coach me through it."_

" _You won't always have Lady Mira nearby to coach you," Virgo pointed out. "And this way, if something goes wrong, Princess can close my gate and send me back before anything permanent happens."_

" _That's not exactly reassuring," Blake noted._

" _But this job is to see how far you guys have come," Lucy reminded her, though no more pleased about the idea. "If you're comfortable with it, I'll agree."_

 _Blake was very much not comfortable with it. Sure, she'd become pretty good at collecting Loke's power, but one wrong step and she could essentially kill her friend. More relaxed than ever she might have been, but there wasn't a nice enough hot spring in any world to make her risk that. But she didn't want to hurt Virgo's feelings. She needed an excuse. A believable excuse, like… um… her porn addiction! Surely a bondage nut like the Maiden would understand._

 _Wait, she didn't bring any of her smut! The only book she had was…_

" _Um, I can't… because… I have to go read the book that Levy gave me, Ozma, the Great and Powerful," she stuttered, rising out of the water. "Yeah, I can't leave it unfinished, or she'll think I was doing… something else."_

" _Why does that preclude you from punishing me now…" Virgo's voice suddenly trailed off, her cheery smile evaporating. "Did you say Ozma?"_

 _Blake raised an eyebrow. "Um, yes. Why? Do you… wait. Celestial Spirits are ancient. Did you know Ozma? Was he real?"_

" _He was very real. A great hero and a great wizard, who died far too soon," Virgo revealed. "The King and Leo went to him for help with a… problem. A problem that was caused by my negligence."_

" _Virgo," Lucy muttered, placing a calming hand on her spirit's shoulder. "I'm sure it wasn't your fault."_

 _The maid glanced back at her summoner, a melancholic smile barely making it back to her lips. "It was. And if it wasn't, it certainly was my responsibility. One that I couldn't fulfill, princ… Lucy."_

 _Both Blake and Lucy's eyes widened as the Maiden discarded her usual title of address for her master. They widened even more when she disappeared in a flash of light._

" _Well, that's new," Lucy remarked, looking completely uncomfortable. "I've never seen her that unsettled about… well, anything."_

" _I'm sorry," Blake apologized, sitting back down in the water, its warmth no longer so all-soothing. "I didn't mean to upset her."_

" _It's fine. You couldn't have known," the blonde replied. "Whatever happened, it was three hundred years ago. That's when Ozma was alive, right? It's been a while since I read that book."_

 _Blake nodded. "I guess I can't really blame her. I'm more than familiar with avoiding awkward conversations, no matter how long ago the topic was."_

" _Tell me about it," Lucy moaned. "Every time Yang starts flirting, I don't know what to say."_

" _Really?" Blake inquired, seeing an opportunity to transition to a far lighter topic. "Ever considered saying 'no, thank you'? Yang may be outgoing, but if you tell her you feel uncomfortable, she'll stop."_

" _No, it's not that kind of uncomfortable. It's not that I'm not interested, it's just... well," she strutted into a sensual pose. "This may surprise you, but despite my gorgeous good looks, I don't get many admirers. Especially not other girls." She went back to normal and scrunched her brow in thought. "Well, except Cana, but I'm pretty sure she's just teasing."_

" _Do you like other girls? That way?"_

 _Lucy's face suddenly went red. "I may have kept… more than a few of Mira's old shoot spreads stashed away in my room."_

 _Blake smirked. "And you wonder how Yang would look in those outfits?"_

" _Oh, she'd look amazing. Have you seen her curves? You could put her in a grey t-shirt and baggy sweats and she'd still be a fashion model. She has so much confidence, and fire, and passion…" the Celestial Mage paused mid-sentence as she realized she was rambling. "She's a lot like Natsu, like that."_

" _Oh? Is Happy right on the money after all?"_

 _Lucy repeatedly opened and closed her mouth, not speaking a word for nearly an entire minute. Until, finally…_

" _I don't know," she confessed. "If I hadn't met Natsu, so much about my life would be different. I would be different. I would never have joined the guild. I would never have gone to another world, or helped save the kingdom, or made up with my dad. I wouldn't have made more incredible friends than I ever thought I'd ever meet. And yes, maybe that has led me to, in rare moments of questionable sanity, consider that I might care about him in a slightly different manner than the rest of my guildmates."_

" _And he's hot? You know, obvious pun aside." Blake added._

 _Lucy sighed. "Yes, fine. He has abs that you could grate cheese on. So does Gray, Erza, Gajeel, Laxus, Elfman, and half the rest of the guild."_

" _Yeah, that is one of the only perks of being trapped in this world. You know, besides the friends, the magic, and the general lack of racial prejudice. The abundant physical attractiveness of everyone is a definite plus," Blake admitted. "But then what's the issue? You care about both of them, they both care about you, I'm pretty sure they care about each other. This seems like a rare setup for an emotional healthy threesome."_

" _Well, it's, um…" Lucy scratched the side of her head before dropping her face into her palms. "Why me?"_

 _Blake cocked an eyebrow. "Why 'you' what?"_

" _Why would they want to be in a relationship with me?" the blonde asked. "I mean, yes, I'm a knockout, but like we said, everyone in the guild is a knockout. Only they're knockouts that can take out giant monsters without breaking a sweat. Meanwhile, I'm running around in the back trying not to get squashed like a bug."_

" _What are you talking about?" Blake inquired, though she was just realizing that she'd never actually seen Lucy in action. "You're on the Strongest Team."_

" _And I have no idea why!" Lucy screeched. "I mean, I know 'why', I tagged along on their first mission together, but I keep getting through into these crazy life or death situations because I'm with them, and I handle them the best I can but I'm freaking out the entire time, but I feel like they could deal them so much better. And that on my own… I just can't keep up with them. You guys have had magic for a month and you're already so incredible, Yang especially. Meanwhile, I'm just me. Why would they want to be anything more than friends with someone who's a burden half the time?"_

 _Blake shrugged. "I'm pretty sure people don't choose significant others based on power. And if Yang has taught me anything from her stubborn refusal to let me deal with, well, any of my mistakes on my own, it's that the people who care about you don't mind helping you up when you stumble."_

" _Yeah, but to do that for… a significant other. Something like that is supposed to be an equal partnership, near-constant companionship. Getting a helping hand when you need it is one thing, but to constantly need them to pick you up? That just seems like a parasite."_

" _Maybe," Blake conceded. "But isn't it their choice if you're taking more than they're willing to give?"_

" _Well… maybe…"_

 _Lucy leaned back, and both she and Blake stewed in the hot spring. There was no shame in needing help. But what was the line between being a friend-in-need, and being their partners' burden?_

 _Well, at least there was one thing they could ask that they knew was not malicious._

" _Those spreads of Mira… I don't suppose I could borrow them sometime?"_

" _Oh. Sure, that's alright."_

" _Thanks."_

…

" _So, is Yang going to join us anytime so or…"_

" _She said she and Natsu were going to take a turn on the rides…"_

"… _The mechanical, moving rides?"_

…

" _They ditched us to go after the monster, didn't they?"_

" _Most likely, yes."_

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

" _So, who's this guy again?"_

" _He's Quatro Cerberus' ace… Bob? Bart? It starts with a 'B'."_

 _The guy in front of them, a muscular fellow with his black hair in a bun and some sort of weird purple armor that only covered his sleeves, sighed. "Bacchus."_

" _Yes! That!"_

" _Good to see you too, Salamander. And your smoking new friend here."_

" _Charmed," Yang replied, appreciative of the complement._

 _She, Natsu, and Happy had been heading to join Blake and Lucy in the hot spring, when a monstrous rumbling had drawn them to the outskirts of the town. After all, if the giant monster they'd been hired to kill was just going to show up, they couldn't pass up a golden opportunity to stop it._

 _Of course, it was only after they'd rushed to the scene that they'd learned that the reason their target was stomping around out in the open was because someone else, Bacchus, had beaten them to it, smacking the… hippo… ogre… fifteen-foot tall thing around like it was nothing. She and Natsu had shared a brief look before charging into the fray themselves, the monster quickly laid out on the ground, small brush fires slowly flickering out all around it._

 _Now it was just three fairies and a wild dog._

 _Bacchus whistled as he looked Yang up and down. "Got to say, you fairies always have the best-looking dames around. Even the Devil Slayers are knockouts."_

" _You're not so bad yourself, tough guy. But my eyes are up…" Yang's reprimand caught in her throat as she realized what the other wizard had said. "I'm a what? You know what kind of Slayer I am?"_

" _Devil Slayer. You know, like Salamander, but for demons and the like." Bacchus explained. "Surprised you didn't know. The only other one I ever met loved bragging about it. At least until I got hired to crush his windpipe for taking a town hostage. Your magic feels just like his, just, you know, fire instead of ice. He mentioned he taught the basics to some other guy… what was his name… Gold? Bronze? Silver? It was some kind of metal. Anyway, I thought that might have been you."_

 _Yang smirked. "Nope. I'm an all-natural demon killer. Handsome here taught me the firepower and I added the rest."_

" _Yeah!" Natsu cheered. "And if she ever does this fancy metal guy, she'll kick his ass."_

" _Aye, sir!" Happy chorused._

" _Ha!" Bacchus laughed. "Wild! It's never a dull moment with you, fairies. Never change." He turned towards the unconscious monster. "Now then, I've got to figure out how to move this thing."_

" _Move it?" Yang inquired. "Um, isn't the job to kill it?"_

 _Bacchus scoffed. "Maybe your job. My client wants this alive. They want it for some science project they're up to. Apparently, it makes some sort of magic mucus or something. They're paying a bucketload of jewels, so I didn't ask for details."_

" _Okay, that's not sketchy at all," Yang snipped. "But our client, the town this thing has been terrorizing, wants it dead."_

" _So? It'll be gone either way," Bacchus shrugged._

" _We were hired to kill it," Yang insisted. "You don't cheat doing a job right on a technicality. We agreed to kill this thing for the town, so we have to kill it. Right, Natsu?"_

 _The Fire Dragon Slayer frowned, glancing over the unconscious hippo-ogre. "I don't know, Yang. Fairy Tail isn't in the business of killing things that can't defend themselves if we don't have to."_

" _And turning it into a lab rat is better?"_

" _Look," Bacchus cut in. "I beat the thing. I get to decide what to do with it."_

" _What?!" Natsu screeched. "We fought it too!"_

" _After I did most of the work! You don't get to say you fought it when you just showed up for the final stretch!"_

" _Okay, how about a new final stretch?" Yang suggested._

 _Bacchus cocked an eyebrow. "You got something in mind, beautiful?"_

" _You and me, one on one," she challenged, with a wolfish grin. "You win, you get the monster and we help you drag it back to your client, free of charge. I win, we kill it, and you get a third of our job pay in exchange for the work you did do. Either way, you still come out ahead."_

" _Wait, what about me?" Natsu asked. "Why can't I fight?"_

" _Um, because this job was for testing how far I've come, remember?" Yang pointed out._

" _He remembers," Happy assured her. "He just really wants to fight Bacchus because Erza said he was on par with her. Though, Elfman did beat him so…"_

" _Elfman beat him with strategy!" Natsu insisted. "And if I take him down, it'll be like taking down Erza by proxy."_

 _Yang smirked, patting her teacher on the side of the face. "Sorry, handsome. You'll have to take a shot at the queen in person. This guy's mine."_

" _Oh? Am I?" Bacchus smirked, licking his lips. "I don't recall accepting your challenge, beautiful."_

" _Yeah. But you're gonna, right?"_

" _Of course. Something like would be wild!" he roared, before calming down into a leer. "But, I want to make a slight addendum to our wager."_

 _Yang shrugged. "Shoot."_

" _If I win, you lot don't have to help we carry the monster back, I can do that myself," Bacchus said, his tongue flicking over his lower lip. "But instead, you and I spend a night together in town, if you know what I mean."_

 _Yang did indeed know what he meant. If she played her cards right, she had hoped to spend a night just like that with Natsu and Lucy during the mission. But with this guy… well, he wasn't bad looking, and he was hardly forcing himself on her, but she'd still rather not. But she couldn't back out of her own challenge, especially with her word as a huntress on the line. And if this guy really was strong as Erza, there was no guarantee she'd come out on top._

 _But if Elfman had beaten him, and she was pretty much even with Elfman with only her huntress skills and her semblance…_

" _Happy, what's this guy's magic?"_

" _Hey!"_

" _You already know mine."_

" _Oh, right. Carry on then."_

" _Happy?"_

" _Aye, sir!" the blue Exceed grinned. "Bacchus is a master of Palm Magic, a rather orthodox magic that allows him to focus magic power into his palms to enhance his physical attacks, combining it with his Chop Hanging Palm and Drunk-Chop Hanging Palm martial arts to deliver swift and unpredictable attacks."_

 _Yang cocked an eyebrow. "You fight drunk?"_

 _Bacchus grinned. He unclipped a gourd from his belt and raised it to his lips. "Want a sip, beautiful?"_

" _Unless you can make a Strawberry Sunrise out of it, I'll pass," Yang smirked and dropped into a ready stance; her fists raised to her face with pink fire leaking from her fingers. "Now let's get this show on the road, shall we?"_

" _Alright! Your spirit is wild, girl!" Bacchus roared, downing the last half of his gourd and tossing the jug away. "Let's go!"_

" _Kick his ass, Yang!" Natsu screamed._

" _Aye, sir!" Happy cheered._

 _Yang sent a cocky wink their way and rushed forward, Ember Celica deployed and shooting out in a rapid combination to test the waters._

 _Heavily intoxicated waters, more like. Bacchus, a significant amount of red swelling in his cheeks, dodged and weaved his way around each of her punch with no apparent effort, as if he was falling out of the way of each strike. But the moment Yang pulled back, planning to regroup, he dashed past her in the blink of an eye, a full third of her aura disappearing as seven hammering blows struck her in what felt like a single second._

 _She smirked. Just as planned._

 _Bacchus whirled around and unleashed another brutal barrage, the huntress barely whirling around to block the rapid palm strikes, which made it feel like she was only being trampled by a herd of horses instead of a herd of bulls, which meant she was only sent flying through ten nearby trees instead of a full dozen._

 _She coughed up a glob of spit. The plan was far more painful than she'd thought it would be. Why do Ruby and Jaune bother with these things?_

 _Oh well, wanton destruction it was._

" **Fire Devil's Rage!** _"_

 _A stream of pink flames erupted from her mouth, searing over the broken tree and dying autumn grass. Bacchus smirked and danced out of the path of the attack, the cast off embers of the blaze bouncing off his shoulder armor._

 _Yang took in a deep breath and unleashed another breath attack, this time to her opponent's opposite side. Once more, he easily escaped the fire, but now he was surrounded on both sides by flames, cornered like a rat in a cage. He couldn't go right or left, retreating would only delay the inevitable, and thanks to her gauntlets, she would have the mobility advantage in the air. This was her moment._

 _She leapt forward, throwing her arms back and rocketing herself into the air with Ember Celica's recoil, a rush of flames surging from her feet for extra speed. She twisted as she flew, the blaze wrapping around her until she appeared as a racing pink comet. She was only a foot away from her foe…_

 _When Bacchus twisted down and under her charge, a maneuver that would have looked like a drunken man's fall if she didn't have a perfect view of his cocky smirk. She flew right over him, his palm already pulled back to attack her underside._

 _Fortunately for her, she'd sparred with Uncle Qrow enough when he was tipsy to predict the gist of an intoxicated man's maneuvers._

" **Fire Devil's Twin Horn Rush!** _"_

 _She twisted her arms around her, sending her body spinning mid-flight, her cocoon of pink flames exploding along the direction of her fists, throwing her even further into the sky and smacking Bacchus into the forest floor._

 _Despite that, the Drunken-Chop Hanging Palm wizard proved why he was his guild's elite and spun back to his feet in an instant. He grinned and looked to the sky, where Yang was already righting herself to attack as she fell._

" _Oh yes!" Bacchus screamed, his open palm already aimed skyward and glowing with bountiful magic power. "Come on, beautiful! Show me your wild spirit!"_

" _You want wild?!" Yang shouted, pulling back her blazing fist. "How about a_ _ **wild**_ _fire!"_

 _The huntress violet eyes ignited a volcanic crimson, her final gambit beginning as she plummeted back to the ground. Bacchus may have been on par with Erza, or he might not have been, but he was certainly a first-rate wizard. Unfortunately for him, his magic was focused solely on dealing physical damage. And Yang's semblance soaked that up like a sponge. A sponge that hit back like a ton of bricks._

" **Fire Devil's Molten Fist!** _"_

 _With gravity, her hellish blaze, and all of Bacchus' previous strikes, compiled into a single punch, her opponent's counterstrike folded like a sheet of paper. His shoulder armor shattered into a storm of purple shards as he was blown into the dirt, a small crater rupturing under them both as his arm twisted back in a way that looked_ _ **really**_ _painful._

 _Yang wasted no time straddling her downed foe, her shotgun gauntlet shoved in his face. "I win, big boy. That monster's mine."_

 _Bacchus grinned, sagging back into the dirt with a sigh. "That it is, beautiful. That was one wild fight. You sure you don't want to keep it going after dark?"_

 _Yang scoffed. "No thanks. Don't get me wrong, you've got your charm, but I don't think you'll be doing much with that arm for a bit. Besides, I've got my eyes set on an… alternate target."_

 _The Quatro Cerberus Wizard cocked an eyebrow before following her gaze to her swiftly approaching teacher. He chuckled. "You don't say? Good luck pulling off that miracle."_

" _Eh, I like a challenge."_

" _Hey! That was awesome!" Natsu cheered, finally catching up to them. "Talk about being fired up, Yang!"_

" _Aw, thanks teach," Yang replied, a proud grin on her face as she blushed. "Now, let's kill us a hippo-ogre-thingy and hit the hot springs—"_

" _The forest is on fire!" Happy wailed, the blue cat ducking through aerial evasive maneuvers to avoid the rising flames. Evidently, unleashing the fires of hell in a dry, autumn forest was not without repercussion._

 _Yang cringed, scratching the back of her head in embarrassment. "Oops. I guess I overdid it a bit."_

" _Eh, no harm there," Natsu grinned, the light of the blaze gleaming off his pearly white teeth. "That just means you're undeniably a Fairy Tail wizard."_

 _At that moment, Yang's smile truly was brighter than the sun. For the first time in a long time, she felt completely and utterly at peace._

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFATEFATEFATEFATE**_

Taiyang was very worried. Granted, as a father of two teenagers who wanted to fight Grimm for a living, he was often worried with good reason. But Yang's actions since the loss of her arm had him especially concerned.

He was glad that she was back on her feet so quickly, he knew more than most how crippling a great loss could be, whether it be a limb or a loved one. Raven and Summer's disappearances had left him in a depression for years before Qrow had finally opened his eyes to just how much he was letting Yang and Ruby down. The fact that his daughter was handling her trial far better was something he should have been proud of.

Except, after her talk with Blake, she hadn't any signs at all of struggling with her new situation, just waking up every morning and heading to a nearby lake with a simple shout of "going training". There was a difference between handling trauma well and repressing it until it blew up in your face, and Tai was worried his daughter was experiencing the latter. One conversation didn't suddenly make the psychological damage of losing a limb go away.

Of course, maybe she'd just been channeling the pain into determination, light a fire under her to get as strong as she possibly could. Adaptability was a trait to be prized in a huntress after all.

Still, he'd asked if he could come see her training once, and what he saw was… disconcerting.

Yang waded into the lake until she was about waist deep, the fish below swimming through her legs. And then, she'd unleash fire.

For hours upon hours, she'd just stand there, unleashing wave after wave of pink flames, the air around her rising at least fifteen degrees just from proximity. The blaze surged across the surface of the lake, steam rising as the crystal blue water boil, the fish within rising dead to the surface.

His daughter's disinterest in the welfare of wildlife aside, what truly caught Taiyang's eye was her arm socket. Where once her right arm had been, slowly a black, mutated stump of flesh took shape. It wasn't anything Grimm related, he would have taken her to Glynda immediately if it was, but it still made the veteran huntsman's skin crawl just looking at it. Especially when Yang turned towards him and he saw the same dark pattern running across the right side of her face like a pungent scar.

Fortunately, with what seemed like only a thought, the markings disappeared, a massive smile blooming across Yang's face.

"I'm ready," she declared. "I'm heading after Ruby and the others."

"What?" Tai gasped, roused from his trance of dread. "Firecracker, not that I'm not thrilled to see you ready to get back in action, but if this is all you've been doing for training, then I can't say you've really adjusted to only having one—"

Yang smirked. All at once, a cloud of purple flames burst out of her stump, shifting until it took on the vague shape of a clawed appendage.

"…arm."

"Nice, right?" Yang said, manipulating the flames as if they were her original limb, picking up the jacket she'd laid on the ground and throwing it across her shoulders, not a lick of fire catching on the fabric. "A guy named Macao in the guild showed it to me once. He wasn't anywhere close to Natsu' league, but he knew how to manipulate flames, so they did more than just burn. And change their colors."

"Neat," Taiyang said. "And the demonic tumor?"

"Oh, that. Pretty sure that's my Dragonforce equivalent. Super mode and all. Plus, maybe my version of the 'use too much Dragon Slayer magic and you turn into a dragon' thing. Just you know, demon-y."

"Uh-huh," Taiyang nodded warily. "And you're not concerned about this because?"

Yang shrugged. "What's to be concerned about? Even if I become a demon, I'll still be me. And if it regrows my arm and gives me the power to help the people I care about, all the better."

Her head suddenly whirled around, and she stared at her father with trembling fear in her innocent purple eyes. "I mean, if I did become a demon you'd still… you know… you wouldn't stop loving me, would you?"

Taiyang felt like he'd been slapped in the face. A moment later, he'd engulfed Yang in a bear hug, his aura shielding from the heat of her flame arm.

"There is no power on any world that could ever make me stop loving you, firecracker," he whispered. "But be careful with this, okay? Sometimes, the best way to solve a problem isn't to power straight through it."

"Heh, don't worry, dad," Yang chuckled, eagerly returning his embrace. "Once everyone's back together again, Salem won't stand a chance against the best Fairy Tail's got to offer."

She spoke with such confidence, such burning passion. And yet, Taiyang couldn't help but remember that same devotion flowing from her mother's mouth about Team STRQ.

If Ozpin's gods were real, and they weren't completely heartless, then they wouldn't let this end the same way.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

In general, Ilia liked to think of herself as a reasonable person. Yes, she was technically a terrorist, but that was only because the humans had driven her and her people to extremes and then called them psychotic villains for doing what they had to do. She didn't like attacking people who'd never done anything to her personally, but it was the only way to show the humans in power, the ones that hadn't bothered to make sure her parents mine had been up to code, that barred them from their shops, that had branded Adam's eye when he was only a child, that their tyranny would not go without consequence. And when Adam and the Albain brothers had made their plan to usurp Sienna… well, she hadn't been thrilled at the thought, but they had made excellent points for why it needed to be done. The war with the humans was escalating, and the tiger faunus' ideas that had once made her so progressive had no become stale and far too insufficient for what needed to be done. So, she had stood by, determined to fight for her cause to the bitter end.

She had never imagined that Sienna would survive Adam's coup, let alone ally with the very same group that the bull faunus had claimed to be in his pocket.

When the High Leader's message had arrived, Corsac and Fennec had quickly claimed to have no connection with the failed uprising, professing their and the Menagerie branch's continued loyalty. Sienna had hardly looked convinced but had decided to play things more cautiously, and merely ordered them to cooperate with and assist an incoming member of their new allies in any way possible. At first, the Albains had been elated to escape punishment and had sworn to do whatever they could to help the incoming agent.

Then, they laid eyes on him. Ilia had never seen the brothers' face go white so quickly. Not that she couldn't understand the impulse. She liked to think of herself as a reasonable person. And their new ally was no friend of reason.

"Corsac, Fennec, Ilia," Ghira Belladonna greeted when the White Fang representatives had arrived at the doorway of his house for their appointment, his voice mildly more friendly when he spoke her name. The towering cat faunus' eyes narrowed when they came upon the fourth member of their party. "I don't believe we've met, sir."

"Tyrian, my good chieftain," the scorpion faunus bowed, his form respectful, but his voice alight with madness. "Tyrian Callows, at your service."

Ghira raised an eyebrow at the display, but his wife, the ever-graceful Kali Belladonna, came forward to shake the man's hand. "A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Callows. I haven't seen you around before. Are you new to Menagerie?"

"Tyrian is here on a special assignment from High Leader Khan," Fennec instantly cut in, though Corsac's eyes widened in terror at his brother's move.

A worthy fear, since the scorpion's furrowed in disgust at the cell leader's words.

"I serve only my goddess. Perhaps, I shall serve alongside Lady Sienna in her radiance one day, but I do not take orders from her," he said, seemingly completely polite. "I would… _appreciate_ if you did not spread such falsehoods about my devotion, old friend."

"Of… of course. My apologies, brother Tyrian."

Fennec bowed his head retreated from the scorpion faunus, both him and Corsac carefully stepping back so that Ilia was between them and their new arrival. The chameleon girl couldn't help but sigh. She knew they brought her along as a bodyguard, Tyrian certainly merited such caution if their stories were to be believed, but did they have to cower so openly?

Oh well, at the very least, both Belladonnas had observed the Albains' terror and were gazing at Tyrian with the proper caution.

"So, Mr. Callows, if I may ask," Kali spoke warily. "If you aren't doing work for Sienna, what brings you here?"

Tyrian's mouth broke out in a positively giddy smile. "I am so glad you asked, Lady Belladonna. I have been tasked by my goddess to locate a dear friend of hers here on the island and escort her home to our Queen's loving embrace."

Ghira raised an eyebrow. "Okay. And you've come to us because…?"

"Well, I assumed that if the Lady Blake was to contact anyone in the city, it would be you."

Ilia's body suddenly went still. What? That was who the psycho was trying to find? She thought Blake was in Vale. She was hardly the only one shocked as both Belladonnas' eyes went wide like saucers.

"Blake?" Kali whispered hopefully. "She's on Menagerie?"

"She's alive?" Ghira muttered, a trepidatious grin slowly forming on his face. "After Beacon, we didn't hear any news…"

"Oh, I can assure you, she is very much alive. Her abilities provide her with a special link to the Queen, which enabled her to track her general location." Tyrian's glee quickly morphed into a pout. "Though judging by your reactions, I must assume she has not seen fit to contact you."

"We didn't even know she was on the island." Kali grabbed Tyrian's arm and dragged him into the house. "Please, Mr. Callows, come in. Let's discuss ways to track Blake down. And you can tell me more about this Queen of yours."

"Thank you, my lady. It will be my pleasure to educate on the glory of our immortal goddess! Hahahahaha!"

Ilia cringed as the cackling madman was led deeper into the mansion, though she was grateful to see that Kali was equally put off by the display. When the scorpion faunus was out of earshot, Ghira turned on the remaining White Fang trio, looking none too pleased.

"Is Blake here?" he demanded.

"We don't know, your lordship—"

"Ilia," Ghira clarified, glaring at the fox twins. "Is Blake here?"

The chameleon girl sighed. "We don't know. This was the first we've heard of it. Sienna just sent a message saying we should help him with his task."

"Which just happened to be finding my daughter for this 'Queen' of his," Ghira growled. "Forgive me if that sounds more like a demand from Adam Taurus."

Corsac stepped forward immediately. "We can assure you, Chief Belladonna, Adam Taurus has no involvement in this matter. He attempted to assassinate High Leader Khan, and has since been detained."

Ghira blinked in shock, before straightening up, no longer leering over the three of them. "Well, I suppose that is good to hear."

"But Tyrian's presence is not!" Fennec insisted. "Your grace, he is a madman! A psychopath!"

The Chieftain scowled. "I take it you have some history?"

Both brothers shuddered. "Too much. He served under us in Atlas White Fang until he grew… uncontrollable. And unstable. His disgusting carnage brought extreme attention down on the group, and so when High Leader Khan ordered the branch evacuated, we had him run a decoy mission to the Grimmlands to lead away pursuit. When he didn't return, we thought him dead."

"Until now," Ghira growled. "Sienna really does enjoy employing psychopaths."

"Huh," Ilia said. "What do you mean, your grace?"

Ghira sighed. "Nothing. But, if Blake is on the island, he never finds her. Is that understood?"

The three White Fang nodded. Technically, they were going against Sienna's orders, but out of fear or personal loyalty, none of them were much in favor of having Tyrian Callows on the island any longer than strictly necessary. Besides, there was no guarantee that the High Leader wouldn't discover their allegiance to Adam, and if that happened it would be quite helpful to have her predecessor's favor.

And, speaking outside the confines of practicality, Ilia would die before she ever let a psychopath like the scorpion faunus lay a hand on Blake, wherever she was.

* * *

 **... Well, Blake's actually got a credible threat to deal with, along with the rest of Menagerie if they make Tyrian mad.**

 **In the meantime, Blake works on controlling her powers and figures out at least a bit of what Ozpin knows to be fact. Unfortunately for Sun, he is part of the 95% of the population that doesn't have a big enough Origin to store enough ethernano for magic. And we get a look into our favorite monkey faunus headspace as he deals with the fact that he is a normal man who is friends with wizards. You know, a normal man that can make clones of himself. Suffice to say, he may not be able to reach their power level, but he will be far from useless in the trials to come.**

 **In the past, we get some foreshadowing, some juicy relationship gossip, Lucy's own feelings on being a comparatively normal person in a friend group of giants, and a showing of Yang being one of those giants. Bacchus is not a pushover by any means (in this continuity, he took down the person who taught Silver his Devil Slayer Magic), but like Elfman, Yang is able to leverage her natural advantages to bridge the power gap and come out on top.**

 **And in the present, we see her disturbingly unperturbed at gaining Gray's Devil Mode. Yay?**

 **And last but not least, we see Tyrian's arrival in Menagerie and just how terrified everyone is of him so far when he hasn't even done anything. The Albain's have their past with him, but even they are vastly underestimating just how powerful Salem's most fanatically faithful is.**

 **An extra huge thank you to my patrons: ArcherMcMuffin, Gregg Tracton, Keith Traction, StabKingPro, Annaya Chan, Nora Okonus, Paula mandel, KefkaesqueXIII, and Christian Howard.**

 **Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!**

 **Go Forth and Conquer!**


	21. Chapter 20

**So, originally this was supposed to be a Ruby chapter, but then I realized that I'd be time-skipping to the beginning of her Volume 4 arc for that, and there was still a bit more setup to do preparing what Weiss and Gray would be doing in Atlas during that time. So... here we are!**

 **If you wish to support me and my college tuition, please check out my P a treon for future chapter summaries, story ideas and more: p a Treon.(c om) (backslash) themaster4444**

 **Beta-ed by xenosaiyan**

* * *

Cinder tried not to limp as her heels clicked along the black halls of Salem's castle, the Scarab within her doing its best to soothe her altered biology. She'd not been so sore from training since she was eleven, brutally driven into the ground by her captors and their efforts to turn her into their ultimate weapon. Now, she had ascended beyond anything they ever could have imagined, a living natural disaster that could annihilate armies. If she had faced Wendy Marvell as she was now, she would have crushed the Maiden of the Sky beneath her glass heels, Dragon Slayer or not. The maiden's power had tested her mettle alone, and now she wielded both magic and a mighty curse at her will.

Of course, given the strain said curse had produced on her body in her… eagerness, perhaps she could take a bit of time to master its use before facing the Fairy Tail wizard again. It wasn't as if she could kill her after all, Salem's order still stood.

Which left her curious why she had been called to the Queen's inner sanctum. Her mistress had taken to handling the business of her grander designs for the day, leaving her, Emerald, and Mercury to practice their powers as they would instead of tolling under her direct instructions. Being abruptly called away from battering her minions was more than unusual.

Perhaps they were being sent out on assignment again? No, they hadn't near mastered their new states yet. Was there some detail about the Fall of Beacon that needed her personal clarification? But she'd already told her that Ozpin was dead!

At last, she arrived at the towering double doors of her mistress' chambers, a Keeper diligently waiting at the threshold. When it noted her approach, one of its long, spindly tentacles latched itself into the door handle and tugged the gate opponent. Cinder strode in without a word, determined to hold her head high despite her current discomfort.

The room was as sparse as any of her previous visits, an elegant but simple bed off to the side, along with a few other personal affects. For all her grand designs and gargantuan castle, Salem didn't seem interested in elaborately decorating her private quarters.

The Queen stood in the center of the room, a Keeper floating before her, a figure's head wreathed in shadows within its bulbous head.

"Arthur has just arrived, and my assets have set him up in a lab in the slums. He's been posturing that it's far below his standards, but he understands that it will keep him out of the public eye until the time is right," A familiar voice spoke from within the Grimm, a smile instantly blooming across Cinder's face. "It'll also provide a safe enough temporary hiding place for the books, until we can acquire the vault."

"Make sure your Scarab is operating at full capacity then," Salem commanded. "I want you to begin as soon as Hazel's asset arrives."

"The Blood-Soaked Bull? You don't think he might be a liability? We didn't exactly take his side."

Salem scoffed. "He brought this upon himself, betraying his mentor for mere power. Despicable. Still, if what's under his mask is any indication, he will be more than happy to take his rage out on the SDC."

"Fair enough. I'll keep an eye out just in case he starts spilling something he shouldn't."

"Good. Oh, and before you go," Salem stepped back and smiled at Cinder, inviting her forward. "I believe our newest Gate would like to speak with you."

"Oh? Oh!" the shadowed figure squealed joyfully. "Cinder! Oh, how are you, my little princess? Did the ascension go well?"

Cinder fought off her blush from her mentor using her nickname in front of Salem and marched forward into the sight of the Keeper, grinning. "It has, Teacher. I stand before you, the Black Queen, an equal at last, the Gate of the Archer and the Fall Maiden."

"Excellent," Teacher replied. "I'm so proud of you, Cinder. Ooo, let's see, the Archer is paired with Enhancement, correct, my lady?"

Salem nodded. "Correct."

"Hmm… be careful then," the shadowed woman advised, pursing her lips in concern. "Unlimited Strength may sound good on paper, but every body has a limit to how much it can be boosted. There's a reason most people don't survive when it's used on them."

Cinder scoffed. "Please, teacher. I am more than capable of judging my limits."

Salem frowned. "Which is why you came in here limping."

The Fall Maiden nearly glared at her mistress, before realizing that such petulance would not be well received. Besides, her expression quickly shifted to chastised when she noticed Teacher's worried glare.

"Listen to her grace's instructions, young lady," the Gate of the Maiden commanded. "You are immensely talented, but no one knows the dangers of the Etherious curses better than our queen."

"Yes, ma'am," Cinder pouted, glancing away. Honestly, she'd already been planning to defer to Salem's expertise in the matter anyway. Teacher's words just confirmed that she was already making a wise decision, it didn't immediately decide the matter… completely…

"Excellent," Teacher nodded. "Now then, what's this I hear about you making friends at Beacon?"

Cinder's face immediately went red, a scowl pursing her lips. "Nothing. I was at Beacon to acquire the Fall Maiden's power, not make friends."

"Oh really? Then who are these Emerald and Mercury people our mistress has told me of?"

The Gate of the Archer whipped around to face the Dark Queen, but Salem merely grinned back at her. The infernal demon had recruited Teacher to her damn sunshine and rainbows friendship crusade? That was just underhanded. She might have even admired the move if it didn't fill her with undying rage.

"Emerald and Mercury are my minions, foot soldiers," Cinder growled. "They are not my equals, and they are certainly not _friends_."

"They are not your minions anymore," Salem corrected her. "You nominated them as candidates for the Gates and they have risen to take that honored place. I may place them under your command in a future operation, but they are your equals in our family, Cinder. It does you no credit to look down on them."

"Yup," Teacher concurred. "Come on, my little princess. Don't tell me you spent all that time at Beacon, and didn't feel anything for them? I know from experience that not even the biggest sourpusses can stay stingy there."

Cinder groaned. "I was there to destroy the school, if you recall. And I have no need of friends. I serve the Queen and I have you. That's all I need."

"And if you lose me?"

The Fall Maiden's face went pale. "That… that will never happen. You're… you. And even if some fool did get lucky, Hell's Core would just bring you right back."

Teacher shrugged. "Anything can happen. Death is always a possibility. For the fortunate, at least."

Salem sighed, a look of utter despair overtaking her for the briefest moment.

"But in any case," the Gate of the Maiden continued. "Did you not recruit them in the first place because they were useful?"

Cinder glanced away. "Well… yes."

Mercury had done well discovering Nikos' semblance, and thanks in part to that information, Emerald had proven crucial in tricking the Mistral champion into killing the Atlas android. But that was to be expected of them! After all, she didn't pick just anyone off the streets to help her, if she was going to provide them with a path to power (albeit less than her own) then they had better not slow her down. Besides, Roman and Neo had proven themselves useful, and no one had badgered her to befriend them when they were still alive.

"Look at it this way," Teacher pointed out. "In the most pragmatic of terms, friendship is an exchange of affection. You care about someone so that they will care about you. And in return, both of you are enriched. In other words, the more friends you have, the more powerful you are. And don't you want to be powerful?"

' _More than anything.'_

"I fail to see how that's a superior approach to forcing someone to your will," she said instead. "A friend can always choose to turn on you should it be in their best interests, while one bent to your will by fear and respect will never dare risk such betrayal."

"If they betray you, then they are no true friend," Salem proclaimed, her eyes narrowed.

"Just try it," Teacher pleaded. "Talk with Mercury and Emerald. Get to know them, really. See if being around them, having fun with them, is for you."

If it were anyone else making the request, Cinder would have immolated their tongue. But, since it was Teacher making the request, she only rolled her eyes. "As you wish."

"That's my princess," her mentor grinned, before turning back to Salem. "I have to go. The meeting is about to begin. You'll keep me up to date on the hunt?"

Salem nodded. "Don't worry. I want to see them again just as much as you."

"With all due respect, your grace, I believe that is only true for half of them."

Her final words spoken, Teacher's image faded from the Keeper's bulb, a dark miasma returning to the Grimm's body.

Cinder turned to her mistress, an eyebrow raised. "What did she mean by that? I assume she meant the hunt for Team RWBY, so why would she wish to see any of them again? When would she have seen them before in the first place?"

A cheeky smile overtook Salem's face. "Ah, yes, I suppose you wouldn't know the details of who your dear teacher was before joining my side."

Cinder scowled, annoyed at the Queen's uncharacteristic runaround. "What? Was she another Fairy Tail wizard?"

Salem smirked, the darkness of her chambers almost laughing for her. "Not exactly."

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

"Was the blindfold really necessary?" Weiss inquired, striding down a dark underground hall, Drizzella at her side in full Intelligence uniform. "This place is in the middle of nowhere as it is."

The dark-haired woman shrugs. "Once we know for sure you're with us for sure, COMMAND ESR and Agent Tremaine will make the call on whether you can know the locations of our safe houses. Until then, we follow protocol."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "I've already said I'd help you."

"Perhaps, but you're used to constant rush of huntress duty, Ms. Schnee. Intelligence work can have the same kinds of highs, but there's usually a lot more tedium in between them," Drizzella explained. "Trust me, I've done both for nearly my entire life. It is almost never as pulse-pounding as Spruce Willis or John Binding movies make it look."

Hardly a problem. Weiss wasn't her teammates. Ruby may have longed for the dramatics of heroism, Blake may have demanded she act in the name of justice, and Yang may have just needed to punch _something_ every hour or go insane, but the heiress was more than used to the idea of taking smaller steps to prepare for a big leap instead of jumping right out of the gate. And if she wasn't, Fairy Tail had more than instilled that value into her when they'd kept her team from rushing off after Tartaros immediately. If Intelligence required her to actually gather information in order to stop the conspiracy against the kingdom and secure her position as her father's heir, she would gladly do it, no questions asked.

Of course, there was one detail about her sister's former teammate's reasoning that piqued a query in Weiss' mind.

"You watch Spruce Willis and John Binding movies?" she asked with an impetuous smirk. "You?"

Drizzella let out a long sigh and her face fell into the palm of her hand. "Ana got me into them at the academy. You are not to tell Agent Tremaine."

"Right, of course," Weiss assured her quickly. It wouldn't do to get on her new coworker's bad side over something so trivial, though she was hardly done ribbing her over it. If her time with Team RWBY and Fairy Tail had taught her anything, it was that friendly teasing was quite effective at forming camaraderie. "But still, you? I wouldn't expect the only person Winter ever acknowledged as a 'perfect, rule-abiding soldier' to be a fan of such _unsophisticated_ entertainment."

The dark-haired woman shrugged. "Mistral's films are called 'art'. Vale's are called popcorn flicks. I spend enough time looking for hidden meanings at work to know what I will enjoy in my sparse off-time. Though, I can't help but notice that such lowbrow productions seem quite beneath the elegant Schnee heiress as well."

"My team leader wouldn't take no for an answer," Weiss revealed. "They're really not so bad."

"Quite," Drizzella agreed. "I'm especially fond of _From Mantle with Love_. You?"

" _Dustfinger_ ," Weiss grinned. While most John Binding movies had the titular spy go up against terrorists or mad scientists, snagging a beautiful woman along the way, her favorite of the bunch had him foiling the scheme of a corrupt, sadistic businessman plotting to make himself richer off the suffering of the less fortunate. She loved to imagine her father in his place when the climax came and the dashing secret agent beast the bastard to a bloody pulp. It was therapeutic.

"Respectable choice," Drizzella conceded, the two of them finally coming to the end of the long hall, a thick steel door barring their way. The spy stepped forward to a panel to the side and placed her palm on it. A laser light flared over her exposed skin for a second before an affirmative chime rang through the air and the door slid open, both women filing into the entrance.

The room they'd entered was bathed in shadows, the walls out of sight in the cloak of the darkness. The only spotlights in the room were focused on the long round table at the center, a dozen swivel-mounted chairs positioned around it.

Gray sat in one of them, facing away from the entrance and towards a woman in the same uniform as Drizzella, only with a pair of golden stars adorning her coat collar. She looked somewhat similar to the other agent, her piercing yellow eyes easily suggesting them as family, but the scattering of wrinkles on her face and the streaks of gray in her elegantly tied up black hair identified her as the generation before their own, on par with Ozpin if Weiss had to guess. Though, she held herself far more domineeringly than the late, gentle headmaster ever had.

"And your response when he asks for your thoughts on the matter?" she demanded of Gray

The Ice-Make wizard rolled his eyes. "The Faunus Rights Revolution was decades ago. My company prefers to focus on the now—"

The woman scowled and a claw of fire leapt up from her shadows, streaking for Gray's face. The Fairy Tail wizard flinched back and threw out his hand, a veil of pink ice cocooning the fiery limb.

"Seriously?" Gray exclaimed.

The claw of fire disappeared from within the entrapment, the ice evaporated once it was gone. A moment later, a house cat made of pure flames rose up from the woman's shadow and leapt onto her shadow, leaving her clothes and skin unmarred for some strange reason. She smiled softly as she petted the fiery phantasm, which purred and mewled like a real feline.

"You froze Lucifer, Agent Fullbuster," she remarked plainly.

"And you attacked me with him!"

"A small price to pay if it helps you learn. No matter how powerful you are, if you don't know information a man of your covers would know, you will bungle the entire operation," the woman scowled. "Your target was a conservative businessman. Referring to that particular conflict as the Faunus Rights Revolution instead of the Faunus Wars would not curry his favor."

"Because it sounds prettier?"

"Because idiots like him prefer to think of themselves as having lost a war instead of tried to exile an entire species to a third-rate island."

"And what about you, Agent Tremaine?" Weiss inquired, stepping forward, Gray and the woman turning to her. "What do you call that 'particular conflict'?"

The older intelligence agent scoffed. "A farce. I served at Fort Castle. If any lessons were to be taken from that disaster, it was not to put imbeciles like General Lagune in charge of an army and don't fight a war to keep a fifth of your population _miserable_ when the Grimm are still at your gates."

"Sensible," Weiss noted. "Eleanor Tremaine, I presume?"

The agent of Atlas frowned. "I see Winter has been speaking far too freely about what little she knows."

"Relax, Tremaine," Gray smirked, rising to his feet and engulfing Weiss in a hug which she eagerly returned. "Find the place alright?"

"I found the rendezvous alright, if nowhere else," Weiss replied. "Fortunately, Klein was more than willing to let me tag along when he drove Whitley into the city to start his internship."

Gray smirked. "Guess it pays to have a doting butler."

"True, though fair warning, he thinks I'm meeting up with the handsome boy everyone says I snuck off to the gardens with during the gala," Weiss informed him. "So, be prepared for lots of questions if you two ever meet."

Gray suddenly looked very nervous, pulling away from their hug, and glancing away from her. "That's… um… something."

Weiss raised an eyebrow. It was rare to see her old teacher so… flustered. Even when he stripped and his icy composure broke, he always had some sense of dignity about him. Now, he was dithering like an awkward schoolboy.

Fortunately, Eleanor tutted to draw their attention. "If you're done gossiping, let's begin."

She took her seat at the table, Drizzella setting down on her right. Weiss looked to Gray for confirmation that it was safe, and when nodded back, they sat down next to each other.

The table split open into two semi-circles and a project rose up from the new gap. The lights of the device flickered for a few moments until a blue hologram flared to life, taking on the shape of a woman in the same model uniform as Eleanor, save with a simple silver medal over her right breast. Over her face, however, she wore a completely covering black mask, the symbol of Atlas painted boldly over the dark metal.

"Special Agent Tremaine, Agent Tremaine, Agent Fullbuster," the masked figure acknowledged, her voice electronically distorted. She glanced over Weiss. "And Ms. Schnee. A pleasure to have you with us. I am the Director of Atlas Intelligence, COMMAND ESR."

"Thank you. It's good to be here," Weiss nodded. "Though, I didn't think I'd be dealing with a mask."

There wasn't a person in the kingdom that didn't know about the Director of Atlas Intelligence, at least as an idea. After the agency was founded forty years ago to ensure nothing like the intelligence fiasco of Fort Castle ever happened again, the leader was always known by the title of COMMAND with a short designation following to tell them apart. Soon after, anyone who had leaked state secrets to help the faunus forces, for whatever reason, were either brought before the Council, or mysteriously disappeared. There hadn't been anything on that scale since, and this person was undoubtedly not the one who performed it unless they were even older than Eleanor, but people had taken to stepping lightly around the name since, no matter if they knew who was behind the mask or not.

That wouldn't work for Weiss. After Cinder and her gang had pulled the wool over everyone's eyes at Beacon, she was not eager to have more secrets kept from her.

"The true identity of COMMAND is one of the kingdom's most highly classified secrets," Drizzella explained. "Special Agent Tremaine is the only person in this room with clearance to know, and that it is only because COMMAND ESR made a special exception eight years ago."

"Then make a special exception again," Weiss said. "You came to me. If we're going to work together, I'm not going to be your tin soldier."

"The fate of this kingdom is at stake," Eleanor growled. "Are you really going to allow Atlas to suffer the fate of Beacon? Or worse? Over something so childish?"

"It's childish to want to know who I'm working with?"

"You know who we are. We are Atlas Intelligence. We protect the kingdom's interests."

Gray frowned. "And who decides that? You guys are investigating the council, right?"

Drizzella's eyes narrowed. "You're a part of 'you guys', remember, Fullbuster? You signed on willingly."

"I wouldn't call being threatened with a prison sentence 'willingly'."

"You committed the crime. All we did was step in to save you."

"And all we want to know is whose name is on the pardon," Weiss said. "Is that really so hard? A name and a face in exchange for two wizards. I'd say that's fair trade, extenuating circumstances equal to whatever happened eight years at least."

That was the wrong thing to say, and she knew it as soon as the words left her mouth. Instantly, both Tremaines were glaring at her, Eleanor shooting to her feet with a snarl. "Listen here, little girl, you have no idea what happened during Godmother's Haven—"

"Special Agent Tremaine," COMMAND ESR interrupted, not even raising her voice. Immediately, Eleanor's mouth closed, and she retook her seat, her yellow eyes glaring daggers at the white-haired huntress.

The holographic woman turned to Weiss. The huntress tried to meet her eyeless stare, but if only for the elevation, it felt like she was being looked down on, like an unruly.

And yet, when she next spoke, the director addressed her as nothing less than an equal.

"Ms. Schnee, no one here can question your skill or your love of this kingdom," she said. "That said, the situation, at least at present, has not escalated near enough for me to divulge a state secret such as that without General Ironwood's permission. I am sorry."

Weiss pursed her lips. "So General Ironwood knows who you are?"

"He does. Intelligence is a branch of the military, along with the Specialists and the regular army. Both I and Commander Obsidian report directly to him."

The heiress tapped her fingers across the table before nodding. "Very well." If General Ironwood knew who she was and trusted her, then she could at least give her a bit of the benefit of the doubt. "But I do need you to tell me something else."

Eleanor looked ready to rip her head off, but COMMAND ESR raised a hand to keep her down. "Name it."

"How did you know Gray and I were wizards?" she demanded. "For that matter, how did you know about magic at all? That's not exactly public information."

"We don't often deal in public information," Eleanor reminded her.

COMMAND ESR tapped out something into a console on her end, a quartet of images rising before her in the hologram. One contained ancient carvings, another was of Yang blasting Mercury at the Vytal Festival, while the last two contained various explosions and light shows.

"With the varied and reality-bending possibilities of semblances, identifying anything in our records as truly mystical is a difficult undertaking," the director admitted. "However, detailed research over the last few has confirmed that only the Schnee semblance, and a few other rare bloodlines, possess a hereditary semblance. Thus, the appearance of this phenomenon across multiple generations of different, unconnected families, among members whose confirmed semblances were on record proved… puzzling."

One of the last two images were enlarged and began playing multiple video clips of different men and woman, in vastly varying sets of clothing and armaments, staring down hordes of Grimm. In each, there was a flash of silver light, and when it faded, the offending demons were either dust or turned to stone.

Weiss and Gray's eyes widened. "That's a lot of Silver Spirit Slayers."

"Ancient texts call them Silver-Eyed Warriors, often as angelic counterparts to Golden-Eyed Warriors or a dark witch or a green wizard," COMMAND ESR continued. "With such a potential weapon against the Grimm, we, of course, looked into the legends. But other than this footage, locating and recruiting members of the bloodlines proved almost impossible."

"We had one a few years ago," Drizzella revealed, a mournful frown tainting her face.

"And she died on her first mission," Eleanor noted sullenly. "Should have trained her better."

"What's done is done," COMMAND ESR brushed off. "Nevertheless, from what data we did receive from the uses of these silver eyes, we managed to form a general outline of their energy readouts. And over time, we came to notice several events around the globe involving similar, though not exactly the same, energy." She enlarged the other image, playing dozens of videos of various explosions or releases of light. "Outside Argus, eighteen years ago. The Vale countryside, fourteen months ago. Even right here in the heart of Atlas a mere thirteen months ago. The readings of dozens of events, many in the Grimmlands, have proved far too similar to not be the same type of power, if not the same user. As such, in light of any more appropriate term, we took to calling it magic, which you both have ironically enough confirmed to be correct. Life can be funny that way."

"Right," Weiss groaned, glancing at the image of Yang burning off Mercury's pants at the end of their match. "And you figured out me and Team RWBY were wizards when we produced those same readings at the Vytal Festival."

"And when I made them all around the city," Gray noted glumly.

"You froze aura-dampening handcuffs," Drizzella reminded him. "It's difficult to pass that off as a semblance."

"Quite," Gray replied, only for his brow to furrow in thought a moment later. "Did you say there was a burst of magic in the city thirteen months ago? _Exactly_ thirteen months ago?"

Drizzella cocked an eyebrow, but got out her scroll and searched through some files. "Yes, thirteen months ago. It was on a slightly different wavelength than usual, but it was most definitely magic. Why?"

Weiss and Gray shared a curious look. Thirteen months ago was when Gray's Fairy Sphere had released him onto Remnant, for no apparent reason. Had this burst been what had let him loose? But if it wasn't a Fairy Tail wizard who did it, the magic that struck the sphere would have to have been ungodly powerful, even if the containment orb was strained from abnormal use. In a world nearly bereft of ethernano, what could possibly be that strong?

"Where did this burst originate from?" Weiss inquired.

"Polendina Labs," Eleanor answered ruefully. "We tried to get approval for a search, but the head scientist does some kind of tightlipped work for Ironwood. We were barred from doing anything."

"Perhaps if we hadn't been, we could have stopped him from testing an experimental combat drone in a fighting tournament for children," COMMAND ESR sighed. "However, he and Dr. Polendina have been no more accommodating since Beacon, so, for now, we cannot make a move without permission. Either way, it is not our primary concern at the moment. The Council Chairwoman's possible treason is."

Weiss frowned. She really wanted to find out more about why the people who apparently made Penny were dabbling with magic powerful enough to open up a Fairy Sphere, but after a statement like that, she couldn't very well bring the conversation back to her, could she?

"Treason is a big word to throw around," she said. "What have you got that makes you think Esper Rosenflos of all people is guilty of it?"

COMMAND ESR tapped a few more keys and a picture of a familiar bull faunus in a Grimm mask dominated her hologram. "I assume you recognize this man?"

"Adam Taurus," Weiss growled disdainfully. "What's the Blood-Soaked Bull got to do with this?"

"Recent reports indicate he's been sent to Atlas by Sienna Khan," Eleanor revealed. "With the dust embargo ongoing, security at the borders has been increased, possibly as a leadup measure to closing them entirely. And yet somehow, this bastard was able to sneak into the kingdom undetected with, according to our spies within the White Fang, codes provided by someone in the Chairwoman's office."

"You have spies in the White Fang?" Weiss blurted out, quite shocked.

Eleanor scowled. "Despite the stupidity of your father and his fellows, not every faunus is a terrorist out for human blood. Most of them are honest patriots, with more than a few willing to serve their kingdom on the inside of Sienna Khan's fanatical horde."

"I didn't mean any offense," Weiss quickly clarified, surprised at the vehemence with which the older woman defended her operatives. "I just… never heard it."

"They're spies. If you'd heard of them, they wouldn't be doing their jobs."

"Fair enough," Weiss responded, turning to COMMAND ESR. "So, what makes you think Rosenflos is behind this? Just because it came from her office doesn't mean it was her. What could she possibly have to gain from letting the most infamous terrorist on Remnant into the kingdom?"

"Confidence," the masked woman declared. "Rosenflos is a staunch internationalist. She may be enormously popular, but her cause isn't. Atlesians, both upper and lower class, have a history of taking immense pride in their kingdom, bordering on arrogance at times. After the Fall of Beacon and the expulsion of Ironwood's forces from Vale, this pride has been wounded, in ways a simple speech won't salve."

"So I've seen," Weiss noted, recalling the woman who'd taken to mocking Vale at the gala. "The other kingdoms blame Atlas thanks to knights going haywire and Atlas blames the other kingdoms for pointing a finger at them."

"Falling back on thinking of themselves as perfect and invincible as a defense mechanism," Gray finished with a scowl. "Still doesn't explain how getting this bull guy into the kingdom helps her."

"It shatters the illusion, or at least it will," Drizzella explained. "The Chairwoman was a mentor to my team when I attended Atlas Academy, and I know how she thinks. If she can engineer a large enough terrorist attack inside the capital, it will be proof that what happened to Vale can happen to any kingdom, even the greatest nation on Remnant. The public's only recourse for safety would be to put aside their grudges against the rest of the world and work together to defeat their common foes."

"And attract who knows how many Grimm to the city before they reestablish order!" Weiss protested. "Thousands would die!"

"They would," COMMAND ESR concurred. "And yet, if it might save millions down the line by ensuring the cooperation of the four kingdoms, is not a few thousand lives a small price to pay?"

"For a madwoman," Gray snarled.

"You can't seriously think anyone would try something so insane?" Weiss protested. There was no way Winter would look up to someone capable of such horror.

Drizzella shrugged. "Above all, Esper Rosenflos is a woman of conviction. If she believes that an action will allow her to save as many people as possible, she will do it. What that action is doesn't matter, whether it's mass murder, treason, or even suicide, she will do what she thinks is right."

"And that makes her one of the most dangerous people in the world," COMMAND ESR proclaimed. "But in the end, this is all conjecture. I have my own issues with Esper."

"Yeah, that she's a bleeding-heart Vale girl who doesn't understand which kingdom she's supposed to protect and serve," Eleanor spat.

COMMAND ESR sighed. "Suffice to say, none of us have perfect judgment in this matter. And though discovering the extent of the Chairwoman's involvement is critical, our first priority must be stopping Adam Taurus before he attempts an encore of his work at Beacon."

"On that, we are agreed," Weiss nodded. "Though I'll admit, I'm a little curious why you came to me. I may be a wizard, but Weiss Schnee is hardly a face suited for espionage."

"There are many types of espionage," Eleanor said. "Operating in the shadows to acquire information and operating in the light to make people believe that information."

"We will need someone highly visible to take the credit for stopping Taurus. Someone who isn't the Council Chairwoman," COMMAND ESR pointed out. "Do you believe Weiss Schnee will be suited to that?"

Weiss' mind immediately imagined the idea. Her standing triumphantly over Adam as he was taken away by the police, never to harm another innocent person. Her and Gray standing side by side, fully clothed, as reporters and news channels interviewed them, the sun sparkling off their bodies as crowds of people adoringly chanted their names. And most important of all, her father, in the face of that adoration, unable to scratch her name out from his will, her role as heir, and ability to restore her family's honor, secure at last.

A gleeful smile spread over her face. She had to admit, it painted a lovely picture.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

Overall, Whitley was quite pleased with how things were going. True, Weiss maintained her composure at the party far better than he'd expected, but just because she retained her position as heir for the moment did not mean his ambitions had been crushed. After all, while he was striding through the council building, escorted to the chairwoman's office, she was off having some secret rendezvous with that boy she'd met at the gala. Of the two of them, he had to say his current situation was far more suited to a Schnee.

Honestly, it was almost a shame about her imminent fall from grace. Once upon a time, she had been his greatest protector, shielding him from mother's drunken outbursts and father's brutish rages. While Winter might have abandoned them to their parents' non-existent mercies to run off to the military, Weiss had allowed him to grow up with some semblance of a childhood. At least until she'd left as well, leaving him a convenient target for both sides of their parents' spats.

Whitley had never been the prodigy his sisters had been. He studied hard, and worked harder, but his academics never seemed to match up to their heights. And the less said about his combat skills, the better. He couldn't flee like they had. He was trapped in the mansion, trapped alone with his parents and destined to suffer their wrath.

But a Schnee did not lay down and suffer. A Schnee adapted. A Schnee, survived.

So, when father raged, he raged. When he howled at the economic repercussions of Ironwood's asinine choices, Whitley concurred with his fury. When father expressed his worry at Weiss' lack of response to his calls while she was at Beacon, Whitley had confessed his own concerns that his dear sister was outside the protective reach of the SDC, and that she might find herself corrupted by the overly romantic ideals of Vale. And of course, made subtle mention that _he_ had no plans to abandon the family stronghold in Atlas for any of the inferior kingdoms.

Before long, his eager obedience bore fruit. His father's rages did not stop, but Whitley was called upon to join them instead of being their target. Being called into the office was no longer an occasion to dread, but the sign of a useful lesson on how to navigate the treacherous terrain of Atlas' political and economic landscape. Once or twice, he thought he even saw a genuine smile on his father's face.

His sisters had fled the challenge, but he had stood his ground, fought, thrived! And if his father's endorsement for the chairwoman's internship was anything to go by, he was well on his way to conquering. Even on the off chance that Weiss impressed father or didn't provide him with an adequate excuse to disinherit her, working Esper Rosenflos would insure he had a foot in the door of Atlas' power players. One way or another, he would claim the ownership of the Schnee name he had earned and bring it to new heights of glory!

He and the Atlesian Knight escorting him at last came to the door at the end of the pristine white hall, a golden nameplate across the front designating it as their destination.

"Mr. Whitley Schnee, for the Council Chairwoman," the Knight announced in a synthesized voice.

"The door's unlocked!" Esper Rosenflos called from within. "Send him in!"

The robot proceeded to do so, opening the entrance wide.

Whitley took a deep calming breath. This was it. He was about to begin his working relationship with one of the few people in Atlas on par with his father. A woman capable of entrancing enormous popularity from the filthy masses as well as commanding respect from his own class. Only his best would suffice here, only his best would get her on his side. Only his best would secure his survival.

No one would shield him. No one would protect him. He had to make his own way.

He faced front, his eyes like ice and his smile set in his best attempt at charming. Knowing he could delay no longer, he stepped into the room.

"Madam Chairwoman, it is an honor to have been selected for this… cookie?"

Okay hardly his finest work, he could admit. But in his defense, when he stepped into the legendary Pearl Office, headquarters for every Atlas Council Chairperson since the government was moved from Mantle, a grand station that overlooked the floating city, he did not expect to find one of the most respected women in the kingdom lounging back in her desk chair eating a chocolate chip cookie.

"Mmmm…" Esper hummed euphorically, her eyes shut as she chewed. "Hello, Whitley. Please have a seat."

The off-balance boy slowly nodded, his robotic escort leaving the room and closing the door behind him. When he took his seat in one of the chairs on the other side of the desk, he attempted to wait patiently for the chairwoman to finish. He found himself waiting for a full minute with no sign she even planned to acknowledge him, finally prompting him to clear his throat.

Esper swallowed what remained of the cookie and smiled at him. She reached over her desk and cracked open a tin, revealing dozens more within. "I'm sorry. Do you want one? I made them myself."

Whitley wasn't sure if this was an intentional trick to confound him or merely her being patronizing, but he decided that it would be best to err on the side of caution. Especially if it was some kind of insult. He was not a child.

"No thank you, mam," he replied. "I just ate."

Esper piqued an eyebrow. "It's a cookie. You don't eat it to fill you up. You eat because it's delicious. Go on, try one."

Whitley's nose crinkled, attempting to suppress his annoyance. Normally if someone talked back to them, he'd give them the cold shoulder, if not shout their head off like father did to those who disappointed him. But this was not someone he could do that with, and with her second offer, this really wasn't a battle worth fighting. She said she made them herself, so perhaps she'd take a refusal as an insult, and he couldn't have that so soon.

He tentatively reached out and plucked one of the smaller cookies from the tin. He hesitated for a moment before she nodded eagerly, and he took a bite. A surge sweet flavor, second only to Klein's crepes, washed over his taste buds, his eyes shooting upwards.

"It's… delicious," he proclaimed, unable to keep the surprise from his voice. "You made these yourself?"

"Everyone needs a hobby, especially people who deal with what we do," Esper noted. "Baking is a healthier alternative to… other options."

Whitley frowned, his mother's 'hobby' clear in his mind. "That it is."

Esper sighed, though her smile did not leave her face. "Besides, my mother was the one who taught me to bake, and I taught each of my daughters what I could. Even if I can't do it with them, at least this way I can remember why I do what I do."

"I take it your family is… no longer with us?" Whitley inquired tentatively. He couldn't recall any articles about the chairwoman's family, and what little he had researched into had revealed no marriage. If she had any of these children, they were either bastard progeny or the products of a secret marriage, both of which carried the potential to be useful as future leverage.

"My parents were killed by Grimm when I was a little girl. I became a huntress and later a Specialist, to try to make sure no one else ever had to suffer the same fate," Esper explained. "As for my children, well, I'm on good terms with my oldest, but the others… well, someday I hope that they'll understand that everything I do is to create a world where children can be children."

"And you don't think they'll understand that now?" Whitley asked. "You are running the greatest kingdom on Remnant."

"Sometimes that's not a good enough reason for children."

"Perhaps children are capable of more than you give them credit for."

Esper chuckled. "Point taken, Whitley. No need to get defensive."

"I am not getting defensive," Whitley insisted. "I am not a child."

"How old are you?"

"… fifteen. Sixteen in a few months."

"Then you are a child," Esper noted, a victorious smirk on her face, though it faded a moment later. "Though, I can imagine you didn't have much of a _childhood_ living under your father's roof."

Whitley's eyes narrowed. "My father is a great man."

The Chairwoman nodded. "Great? Yes. But great does not always mean good. As I have no doubt you know, my friend."

The young boy's hands curled into fists, working incredibly hard to keep his temper under wraps. "With all due respect, madam chairwoman, I did not come here to be insulted. I am fully aware that you would have preferred my sister stood here in place, but I have no intentions of resigning just because of some poor words against my father."

"Good."

"What?"

Esper rose to her feet, her countenance finally shedding the pleasant, motherly façade she'd been putting on, in its place the serious, straight-forward veteran. "I'm not going to lie to you, Whitley. You're a smart boy, and I respect that. I did hope for Weiss to be the one in this office with me right now. Perhaps it was nostalgia for my time training Winter at the academy, perhaps it was empathy for young huntress trying to create her own legacy. But the fact is, she is not. You are. And my days of ignoring the facts of the world are long behind me."

She turned away and stalked towards the window that formed the back wall, waving a hand to summon him to her side. He quickly made the journey and the both of them stood side by side, gazing out at the mangled city of metal and snow below.

"Whitley, what do you want?"

The white-haired boy blinked. The question was quite simple… and yet…

"I suppose I want to make my father proud of me—"

"Why?"

"Excuse me?"

"Why do you want him to be proud of you? Do you not think he is already proud of you? Do you not think he loves you?"

"Of course he doesn't love me," Whitley spat. He didn't think he could pull a lie about _that_ off against someone who knew his father so well. "But neither does my mother, or my sisters. I have always been alone in this life. At least if I can make my father proud of me, I can get him to make me his heir, and ensure that I have the power I need to flourish."

"And in turn, deny that power to your sister," Esper pointed out.

Whitley shrugged. "She denies it to me simply by refusing to give up the company despite her obvious preference for huntress work over business. Like I said, I have always been alone."

"And you think power will ease that pain?"

"Who said anything about pain?" he quickly cut in, fidgeting his fingers behind his back. "You said yourself, ignoring the facts of the world helps no one."

"No, it does not," Esper confirmed. "But here is another you should consider. Power is not happiness. It is responsibility."

Whitley raised an eyebrow. "And what does that mean?"

Esper smiled at him, warmth, actual genuine warmth radiating out from her grin. In his mind, Whitley knew it must be a ploy. She'd known him for ten minutes. she couldn't possibly legitimately care about him!

And yet, with that smile, those gentle golden eyes… it was… comforting. In a way, that told him there was no challenge he needed to rise to, no test he needed to pass, no rage he needed to match. That he… that he was enough. It was a new feeling, safety in another's presence.

"It means we better get to work," Esper told him, patting him on the shoulder and whirling around back to her desk. "We have a kingdom to run, an embargo to end, and cookies to eat!"

For a moment, Whitley just stood there, dumbfounded. He turned to continue the conversation, but the Council Chairwoman was already in her chair, highly sensitive state documents in one hand and a chocolate chip cookie in the other, humming a pleasant tune without a care in the world.

At that image… he found there was nothing he could do but close his mouth, walk over, and do whatever he could to help. After all, that was his job now. And a Schnee did their job and all that was asked of them. That was their way, their legacy. And he wanted that to be his.

…

Didn't he?

* * *

 **Ah, lots of fun character moments in this chapter. Though, the next one will be catching up with Ruby and Wendy, of that, you can be sure.**

 **An extra huge thank you to my patrons: ArcherMcMuffin, Gregg Tracton, Keith Traction, StabKingPro, Annaya Chan, Nora Okonus, Paula mandel, KefkaesqueXIII, and Christian Howard.**

 **Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!**

 **Go Forth and Conquer!**


	22. Chapter 21

**Important announcement at the end!**

 **If you wish to support me and my college tuition, please check out my P a treon for future chapter summaries, story ideas and more: p a Treon.(c om) (backslash) themaster4444**

 **Beta-ed by xenosaiyan**

* * *

It was a quiet day. A sunny day. The forest glittered like a sea of emeralds, the birds warbling a pleasant chorus through the titanic trees. If one was merely looking in on the world, it would the most picturesque land imaginable.

Of course, if one was present, then they would understand that this was the continent of Anima, and that meant everything was going to try to kill you. Case in point, the gargantuan rock monster currently smashing aside thousand-year-old trees as it stomped towards the nearby village, the tiny bone mask situated in the middle of its biggest boulder providing evidence of its malicious intent.

Well, to most, at least.

"Are you sure it's a Grimm?" Carla inquired, squinting at the behemoth from the canopy. "The body looks like solid stone. More a golem than anything."

From beside her, perched upon a highly strained branch, Qrow nodded, downing a swig of his flask fast enough to make Cana proud.

"Unless the White Fang are now taking in some very strange recruits, it's a Grimm," the ragged huntsman assured her. "Geist, if I had to guess. Tough bastards. They can possess almost any non-sentient object. You have to force them out to kill them."

"And you do that by?"

"Hit the mask. For most Grimm, its heavy armor covering their face, but for a Geist, it _is_ their face. Smash it hard enough when they're in something and they'll be forced out."

"Really? How interesting." Carla remarked.

Months on Remnant, traversing the treacherous Anima countryside, and the dangers never seemed to cease. Everywhere they went, they either found the ruins of towns obliterated by the Grimm, or settlements besieged by the monsters, their black forms taking on every shape and size imaginable. She had glimpsed them at Beacon, but by that point they'd already begun to be pushed back. She hadn't thought much of them, even with her knowledge of Team RWBY's dread for them back at the guild.

But there was no end to them. Wherever they went, the strange dark spirits were there, and bit by bit Carla had come to understand why they were feared. After all, a foe that never ended, especially one that wanted for nothing but destruction, could never truly be beaten. And unless one had a huntsman's education, they couldn't know the millions of individual strategies needed to take down each class of Grimm. Civilians, even if they by some sparse chance had their aura unlocked, were near helpless against them.

It was enough to make Carla wonder whether, if they hadn't had friends and family they wished to see again, Team RWBY would have been nearly as eager to return to Remnant. She certainly didn't enjoy the idea of her and Wendy having no truly safe haven.

"Should we attack it?" she asked nervously, settling on the branch to converse the magic of her wings. "I know we want to see how far they've come, but still—"

"They've got first crack at this thing. It's the only way for them to see what they're made of," Qrow cut in. He leaned back against the tree's thick trunk. "Relax, kitty cat. If it gets out of hand, we'll be here to step in."

Carla's eyes narrowed. "Do not call me 'kitty cat'."

"A certain Ice Queen in Atlas will tell you that I don't budge on nicknames."

"Weiss?"

Qrow chuckled. "The other one."

"There are two Weisses?" the Exceed smirked. "This world might not be so bad after all. At least if their decorum can balance out present company."

The huntsman rolled his eyes. "Very funny. Guess that means you clean up your own hairballs?"

"Please, Exceeds may have many similarities to cats, but we most certainly do not share that disgusting habit," Carla replied. "Now then, it seems they have arrived."

Both she and Qrow gazed back down to the forest, the Geist stampeding along its merry way, everything the stone golem's path crumpling before its titanic weight.

At least, until a grey blur leapt through the tree and advanced on the creature, the Grimm seemingly unaware of the danger's approach.

The blur launched itself into the air and landed on the creature's arm, color suddenly blossoming across the figure's body and clothes, revealing the flowing green robes of Lie Ren, his twin machine pistols Stormflower in his grip. He stabbed down into the Geist's body, latching himself onto the stone.

However, with his semblance now deactivated, the Grimm was easily able to sense his negativity, its boulder head turning towards him. Its other gargantuan arm reached around and came down to smash him flat like a fly.

" **Holy Barrier!** "

A glowing golden ankh _,_ shining with a heavenly white glow within, flared to life above Ren, its light stopping the giant rock arm cold, the huntsmen below completely unharmed.

Carla glanced over to the edge of the clearing, Jaune Arc standing proudly just outside the tree time, his eyes furrowed in concentration as another ankh blazed around his shield. Over the past few months, each of the present members of Team JNPR had managed to unlock their own magics, their leader possessing easily the largest origin of the three, though not nearly as large as most first-class wizards the Exceed had known. His Holy Barrier magic was quite the potent protection though, power that Sting would have gobbled up. Though honestly, with all the various deities and religions on Earthland, Carla wasn't sure why most magic wasn't of a holy class, at least of the God Slayers. Perhaps there was a higher power than the polytheistic pantheons?

"Ren! Do it now!" Jaune shouted to his friend, his barrier still holding strong against the titanic Grimm's assault.

The other huntsman nodded his agreement and pressed one of his palms against the rocky limb he was attached to. Slowly but surely, glowing gridlines white light began to insect across the stone. Perhaps it was only for the familiarity, but Carla couldn't help but smile when she saw the boulder burst apart into dozens of perfectly split cubes.

It was certainly a surprise that one as calm and centered as Ren possessed such a brutally destructive power as Crash Magic, but she supposed one wouldn't expect a lackadaisical drunken flirt like the Ace of Fairy Tail to have it either. Still, despite the magic's naturally potency, the young huntsman commanding it had an origin barely a tenth of the size of Gildarts'. His beginner's nature was still obvious, and he had to concentrate for a few moments to gather up enough magic energy within himself to do anything, and he certainly wouldn't be blowing away mountains any time soon, if ever. He simply didn't have enough fuel for that. Granted, with his semblance, sneaking up on a Grimm to use it wouldn't be too difficult.

Ren flipped through his fall, landing gracefully on his feet. The Geist turned towards him, recoiling from its lost arm and throwing its other one into a long-winded lunge for its assailant.

Which if Jaune's grin was anything to go by, was exactly what the team wanted.

"Now! Nora, go!" he yelled.

To an outside observer, nothing seemed to happen, Ren just panting hard while Jaune's Holy Barrier shielded him from the stone golem's strike.

Then, for no explicable reason, the face boulder of the monster exploded, a solid chunk of the titan dissolving into dust as it was sent toppling over. A half dozen more blasts rocked the creature until it was finally driven to the ground, a final strike obliterating its mask. The ghastly true form of the Geist rose out the crippled husk, meandering into the air.

Only for Nora Valkyrie to suddenly appear in existence before it, sporting a grin that might have made even Natsu question her bombast. Her hammer Magnhild, quickly shifted into its grenade launcher form and before the Grimm had even had time to process the instinct to flee, a bomb collided with its mask and disintegrated it in a pink explosion.

Qrow whistled. "Still can't believe that girl of all people has Invisibility."

Carla shrugged. "Magic grows and changes alongside us. Perhaps there is something she has hidden within that not even she knows how to reveal."

Given that said girl proceeded to tackle her teammates in a massive hug (Ruby informed her it was colloquially called a 'glomp' in this world), squealing about sneaking extra pancakes at breakfast, perhaps Qrow was well within reason to cock an eyebrow as he did.

"Doesn't matter I suppose," he finally stated. "They're coming along quite nicely if they can take down a Grimm like that so easily."

"Most magic's main strength lies in pure destructive force," Carla noted. "It isn't too surprising that they're able to deal with far greater enemies now."

"Beats turning into a bird at least," Qrow shook his head. "Man, I feel like Oz really shortchanged me."

Carla shrugged. "Transformation Magic is quite useful for a spy, as I'm sure you know. And cheap enough that one can consistently use it even on this world. And you've certainly mastered it. Not even Mira or Lisanna could fully transform into an animal."

"You can," Qrow muttered. "Mira… that's the demon chick that trained Belladonna, right?"

"She-Devil, but yes, she trained Blake."

"Yeah, I think shifting into a half-demon beats anything I've got," Qrow noted. "Don't suppose you have any other crazy powers I don't know about?"

"I can see the future."

"Ha! And I thought you didn't have a sense of humor."

Carla raised an eyebrow at him.

"… you can see the future? Seriously"

"Not as consistently as I would prefer," Carla admitted. "It tends to alert me to various world-ending events, or moments when our friends might die, but even then it's a coin flip whether it makes any sense or I can do anything about it."

"Well, that sounds pretty unhelpful."

"It's saved Wendy's life at least once, so I'm glad to have it," she said. "Though, I will admit that gaining a bit more precise control over it would be quite nice."

"Ever think to work on it?" Qrow inquired.

"Of course!" Carla rebuffed him indigently. "I just… have no idea how. Precognition is one of the least studied magics in the world. Barely anyone in history has been recorded having it, and those few that have only left a few books of prophecies instead of any instructions on how to make them. It is infuriating! I can't help Wendy against the caliber of foes she'll be facing if I'm still at this level… nevermind."

"No, I get it," Qrow comforted her. "Salem's coming for Ruby, probably setting the Gates on her, and I can turn into a bird. Put me against a Grimm and I'll cut through them without batting an eye, but against those monsters… well, there's a reason I was only a scout."

Carla frowned. "These Gates… are they really that powerful? Stronger than that maiden girl?"

"Oz certainly thought so. And he wasn't one to understate an enemy—gah! Damnit!"

The branch the pair were sitting on finally snapped free, a victim of Qrow's semblance no doubt. Carla effortless sprouted her wings the moment she felt the support beneath her vanish, but the huntsman was taken by surprise. He fell for a solid second before he transformed and fluttered back up.

The white Exceed could only sigh. Trapped in a world with barely any ethernano, with allies that were already on the backfoot, against foes they didn't know if they could fight. With no Natsu, Erza, Gray, or even Happy. Maybe she should take another crack at invocating her precognition? Or perhaps unlocking her semblance, whatever that might have been.

At the very least, she hoped Ruby and Wendy's efforts were yielding more fruit.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

"Man, this is so much easier with an enchanter!" Ruby exclaimed. "Why did we never work on this together before?"

"I didn't know how to do it before," Wendy giggled. "I learned a lot in two years."

Ruby grinned and pulled her Reaper's Rose armor out of the forge, quickly dunking it into the cooling vat, steam rushing up throughout the shop. A local blacksmith in the settlement had been nice enough to let them use his forge as part of the settlement's payment for getting rid of their Geist problem, something Jaune and the others had set out to handle. In the meantime, Wendy had offered to use her mystical expertise to help with the hardening and mirror magic that still needed perfecting in Ruby's armor, plus adding a bit of color-changing for that hint of Fairy Tail extravagance. Now, the formerly stubby scale mail wings were grand and flowing, just like the Heaven's Wheel armor it was based off.

And if Erza was somewhere on Remnant as well, trapped in a Fairy Sphere, she would have a whole lot of fun showing it off to her.

"Amazing," the blacksmith whispered, overlooking them both with wide eyes of wonder. "And this isn't a semblance? Are you sure?"

"Positive, sir," Ruby confirmed, bursting into a cloud of rose petals just to prove it. "This is Fairy Tail magic."

The blacksmith let out a round of hearty chuckles, the ram's horns atop his forehead nearly scraping the roof of his shop. "Magic. Magic! The boys at the bar are never going to believe this."

The bell of the shop's front door chimed, and the kind man exited the forge, leaving the girls to their own devices.

"It's weird," Wendy noted. "Magic is so commonplace back home, but here no one's even heard of it."

Ruby shrugged. "Makes sense why we didn't believe it at first, huh. And since we learned magic on Earthland, maybe you could learn to fight like a huntress here? Eh? _Eh_?"

"I don't need a weapon, Ruby."

"Aw, come on! It'd be really cool—I mean useful!"

Wendy sighed. "My fighting style is based off Natsu's. It's hand to hand. Aura and whatever my semblance might end up being can amplify it but adding a weapon would just make it unnecessarily complicated."

"But Yang fights hand to hand, and she uses Ember Celica!" Ruby pleaded. "Come on, just think about it. You, surrounded by Grimm, low on magic, no opening to eat air and refill. Then suddenly, you break out some super mega awesome weapon that's also a gun and tear them apart! It'd be amazing!"

Wendy cocked an eyebrow. "Doesn't it take years of practice and training to learn how to safely handle a gun? Let alone accurately?"

Ruby smiled dimmed a bit. "Well… kind of. I mean, Jaune nearly burned down the training hall when he tried… somehow. I still can't figure out how he did that, it wasn't even loaded with fire dust."

"Exactly. And Fairy Tail members already cause property damage wherever they go. I don't want to cause anyone any trouble."

"I've never actually seen you cause property damage now that I think about it. Did that change while I was away too?"

"Well… not exactly. But the more powerful I got, the harder it was to keep it that way," Wendy explained. "Adding a weapon would only make that worse. Although…" the Sky Dragon Slayer furrowed her brow. "You have a point about not being able to rely on magic. I do have to be ready for anything."

"Exactly!" Ruby cheered, wrapping her arm around her friend's shoulders. "Now imagine it… a gun, that's also a gun. Okay, that's not my best idea. Give me a second, I'll come up with some better stuff."

"Or," Wendy proposed. "Maybe a shield?"

Ruby cocked an eyebrow. "That's also a gun?"

"No. Just a shield."

"Oh," Ruby noted, unable to fully hide her disappointment. "Well, I guess that could work. The biggest issue would be the weight slowing you down, but a buckler wouldn't be too bad on that front. Heck, you could even carry two of them, use them like boxing gloves. That'd be awesome!"

"And I'd be able to protect people!" Wendy nodded eagerly. "I could shield them at the same time I healed them or reinforced them with enchantments."

"Perfect!" Ruby grinned. It might not have had a gun on it, but at the very least, she'd convinced her friend to take on some extra protection while she was on Remnant. "Let's go check to see if he's got any metal we can use to make them while we're here."

The girls ran out of the forge and into the shop proper, only to find the faunus blacksmith conversing with the village elder. They both turned towards the wizards and smiled.

"Ah, Miss. Rose, Miss Marvell," the elder said. "We've just received word from your friends. They have defeated the Geist and are returning as we speak."

"That's great," Ruby replied. "They finished that up even faster than I thought they would."

"Indeed," the elder chuckled. "We truly can't thank you enough. That horrid Grimm had been plaguing us for weeks. We were beginning to wonder if we were going to have to relocate."

"Well, we are on our way to Mistral," Wendy informed them. "You could always come with us if you don't feel safe."

The elder cringed. "I take it you're not from these parts."

"What?" Wendy squeaked. "Of course, I am. I'm from right around these parts. Why would you think I'm from anywhere that isn't around these parts? I'm from the same world as you…"

Ruby patted her on the back, calming her frantic breathing. "I think you may have picked up my babbling."

"Just a bit."

The elder and blacksmith exchanged a confused look before shrugging.

"Well, anyway, Anima is a large continent," the elder continued. "I'm afraid our people would never survive the long trek to Mistral. It may be safer in the kingdoms, but we prefer our way of life. There is less…" he glanced towards the faunus blacksmith, who sighed. "discrimination than in the city.

Ruby frowned. She'd never really paid much attention to what the faunus suffered before she met Blake. In Vale, for the most part, no one cared whether people were human or faunus, at least from what she saw. There were a few rumors of White Fang activity, and a racist jerk like Cardin here and there, but for the most part, the world just seemed to turn the same for everyone.

But that was in Vale. And as Blake and Weiss had both made clear to her, things were not the same in the other kingdoms. Every kingdom but Vacuo had once used faunus for slave labor, but Mistral and Atlas had both held onto the practice until the end of the Great War, then attempting to exile them to Menagerie. Though Atlas had similar anti-discrimination laws as Vale, the attitudes of its people varied widely on that count, with Mistral not even having that much. It wasn't too surprising that some groups of people had gotten tired of their kingdoms' prejudices and headed out into the wilderness to make their own life.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" she inquired.

The elder and blacksmith immediately perked up. "No need to worry. You have all done more than enough. I just wish we could pay you more."

"Don't worry," Wendy assured them. "Our previous arrangement is more than enough."

"Although, you wouldn't happen to have any spare metal lying around, would you?" Ruby inquired.

The blacksmith raised an eyebrow. "How much do you need?"

Ruby grinned. She turned towards Wendy and imagined her charging into battle with a pair of mini-Tulip's Aegises on her hands, smacking down Grimm wherever she went with a tornado at her back.

Ooooh, she didn't know why Wendy didn't want any of the others to have followed her to Remnant, but she really hoped Erza was somewhere around. She couldn't wait to show off everything she was going to make to her mentor.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

" _Oh, the shadows fell over the land,_

 _they ravaged, and slaughtered, and ran._

 _The spawn of Zeref, raised from hell,_

 _To torment, and butcher, and tear._

 _But all nights must end, the sun must rise,_

 _And over the hill, it did._

 _Ozma! The mighty and strong!_

 _Ozma! With time on his side!_

 _Ozma! The great and powerful, our hero of light!"_

" _What the hell?" Oscar muttered. When he'd nodded off to sleep, he hadn't expected to get suddenly plopped in the middle of a grimy tavern of all places. Even less to see a freaking bard playing a lute of all things as the entire packed bar sang along with his ballad._

 _All except one, a young man laughing at the counter, a tankard of ale in his hand and a scantily clad woman on each arm. His hazel eyes sparkled with laughter against his tan skin, his unkempt brown hair somehow looking dashing even in the dingy light of the bar. A finely crafted staff with a chunk of emerald at its tip rested against his stool, a golden key strapped to a loop on his belt._

" _Oh, the shadows came and Ozma went forth,_

 _Driving them from the land!_

 _No demon could stop him,_

 _The maidens besotted,_

 _His great and all-powerful air!_

 _Ozma! The great and powerful, our hero of light!"_

" _I protest minstrel! I protest!" the young man heckled. "I've been trying to get that title changed to the incredibly handsome and powerful. I think it'll go a little farther with the fairer sex, am I right, ladies?"_

 _A round of giggles and a chorus of cheers accompanied his shouts, the sheer worship everyone in the bar had for the man permeating the very air. Hell, he hadn't even done anything besides drink and flirt and Oscar already couldn't take his eyes off him. There was a natural magnetism about him, an aura of confidence and power. It was… alluring, to say the least._

 _Of course, that just made everyone panic more when a giant sinkhole suddenly opened up beneath him, the joyous chatter instantly turning to terrified screaming._

 _Only the man himself didn't panic, quickly recovering his wits and pushing the women around him to safety before they could fall in. He snatched his staff from the air and swiped it through the air below him, a glyph of green light shaped like a clock materializing above the hole._

" _ **Arc of Time: Restore!**_ _"_

 _Dirt rose against gravity to refill the hole, a scant second passing before Oscar wouldn't have believed there was ever one to begin with. The young man landed on his feet upon the new floor and swiftly skipped back from it, motioning for everyone else to get clear._

 _Indeed, a moment later, the hole reappeared, a small cloud of dirt filling the air. For several seconds, the patrons cowered behind the young man, who stood tense and ready for battle._

 _Of course, after those seconds, a pink-haired woman wearing flowing golden robes leapt out of the hole, her narrowed eyes scanning the crowd. Oscar didn't think anyone else noticed, but the golden key on the young man's belt began to softly glow gold._

 _The woman's gaze finally centered on the young man. "You are Ozma? The hero?"_

 _The young man cocked an eyebrow but did not drop his guard. "I am. Who's asking?"_

" _A friend of mine."_

 _A smile instantly split Ozma's face whirling around to a new figure appearing in a flash of golden light. A man, as tall as the hero with just as sculpted a figure, garbed in resplendent golden armor and with a mane of vibrant orange hair._

" _Leo!" Ozma cheered, his staff clattering to the ground. He rushed over and engulfed the lion-like figure in a tight hug, the action bringing the barest smile to the armored man's lips. "It's been far too long, old friend! How have you been? Is everything okay up in the stars? Oh!"_

 _Ozma whirled around to the patrons. "No need to be alarmed everyone! This is Leo, a good friend of mine. And his friend… um…"_

" _Virgo," the woman from the hole supplied._

" _Virgo!" Ozma repeated happily. His smile suddenly turned worried and he leaned back into Leo. "Wait, Virgo? The Spirit of the Maiden? What happened to Aries? Are you two having trouble again?"_

 _The pink-haired woman's eyes narrowed. "We are here on business, not pleasure. Leo assured me that you would be a worthwhile ally in our quest."_

 _Ozma's face suddenly became concerned. "Quest? What's wrong?"_

 _Leo frowned, his eyes flickering to the nervous bar patrons. "We should talk about this somewhere else."_

 _The world around Oscar blurred, the bar evaporating in a haze of mist, replaced by a hill overlooking a dark, gothic tower straight out of the blackest nightmare. A gigantic dome of crackling violet energy surrounded the fortress, a violent tempest of storm clouds blotting out the sky above._

 _Ozma, now encased in shining green armor, Leo, and Virgo stood at the base of the hill, the former looking upon the bastion of evil with wary trepidation, while the latter glared with utter burning hatred._

" _Why can't you tunnel under it?" Ozma inquired._

" _Don't you think I would have done that already if I could!" Virgo snapped. "It's an orb, not a dome. He knew better than to think we wouldn't come after her."_

" _Which is why the field will keep out even the strongest of us, even if we could maintain a proper anchor to the human world," Leo scowled. "The King had three of our most trusted contractors shatter their keys so he could spend an entire day hammering it with everything he had. It did nothing."_

 _Ozma frowned. "I'd heard the Underworld King was dangerous, but this is insane. And he's got an army of demons in there besides?"_

 _Virgo whirled on him. "Don't you dare back down! You promised you'd help! We have to save her and you're the only one who stands a chance at taking down the shield to save her!"_

" _Woah, woah!" Ozma gently protested. "Of course, I'm going to help. Even if I hadn't known Leo since I was a kid, saving people from Zeref's monsters is pretty much my job description. So don't worry, we're going to save her."_

 _The maiden suddenly backed away, suitably chastised. "Oh… um, thank you. I'm sorry for doubting you. It's just… we need to save the princess."_

 _Leo put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It wasn't your fault."_

" _No?" Virgo sighed. "I was supposed to be watching her, to accompany her as her maid, not let her run headlong into a demon's false temptations! Now he's doing who knows what to her and—"_

" _And we'll save her," Ozma insisted, a reassuring grin on his face. "Don't worry, my lady. I am Ozma, the Great and Powerful. No demon has stopped me before, and no demon ever will."_

 _He turned from his friends and marched up the hill, passing through the crackling barrier with only the most minor signs of discomfort. The moment he crossed the threshold, a wave of thick thorns and bramble stampeded down the slope, a legion of ghouls and gargoyles as grotesque as any Grimm at its heels._

 _Ozma waved his staff and the emerald detached itself from the tip, floating in midair surrounded by a soft glow._

" _ **Flashforward!**_ _"_

 _Suddenly, there was not one emerald in the air, but ten thousand, a veritable storm of jewels easily equal to the demonic forces closing in. With but a thrust of his staff, the shining arsenal bombarded the advancing foes, shredding hellish beasts and gargantuan thorns in equal measure. In mere moments, all that was left of the devilish horde were chunks of ruined flesh and scraps of withered plants._

 _Ozma's eyes narrowed. "So that was the cannon fodder. Lovely."_

 _He trudged up the hill, his sparkling emerald circling his body like a watchful hound._

 _Oscar could only watch in awe. If he'd been faced with such a legion, or the equivalent in Grimm, all that would have been left for him to do was curl up in a ball and hope they didn't torture him too much when they tore him apart. Ozma had annihilated it in seconds, with seemingly no effort at all._

 _Was this what a fully trained wizard was capable of? Perhaps the warrior before him was an outlier, some ancient legend among legends, but he used the same magic Ozpin had. If he could learn to use that same class of power, there was no telling how many people he could help._

 _He made to follow, to witness the wonder of Ozma's inevitable duel with this Underworld King, whoever that was. But just as he took a step, a hand clasped his shoulder. He whirled around to see a tall man in a green suit and bookish spectacles, a dusting of pale white hair on his head._

 _A moment later, everything faded away._

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

"Why did you pull me out?" Oscar demanded, keeping his voice low as he wandered the stately streets of Mistral's upper ring. He could already catch the suspicious glances of the area's well-off residents watching him. This section of the capital was for filthy rich merchants, politicians, and actors, not farmhands, and especially not farmhands who talked to themselves about magic.

" _I had not intended you to see that. Your consciousness slipped in while you were dreaming,_ " Ozpin explained. _"I'm sorry you had to witness it."_

"Why?" Oscar asked. "That Ozma guy was awesome. Was he one of our past lives?"

Within his mind, he heard Ozpin give what must have been the mental version of a sigh. _"He was the first. And though we have accumulated aspects of everyone we've ever bonded with, he is still the heart of our essence. In a way, I am Ozma. And because of that, I know his memories are better left forgotten."_

"They didn't seem that bad," Oscar said. "You were a hero. You were saving someone. Did you… did you fail?"

" _No. I succeeded,"_ the ancient wizard revealed. _"But perhaps the world would be better off if I'd failed. Now then, look sharp, we're here."_

Oscar raised an eyebrow but sensed that he wouldn't get any more information at the moment. Besides, he was not wrong.

Initially, Ozpin's plan had been to come to Mistral and meet up with the headmaster of Haven, Leonardo Lionheart. Made sense, he was a renowned huntsman and one of the wizard's lieutenants against Salem. Surely, he'd be able to help them get into the fight.

Except, he'd been sending out every huntsman he could, including Haven's teachers, to the wilderness. Apparently, this wasn't too unusual after something like the Fall of Beacon, the entire world saw the chaos and that meant negativity, and Grimm, were everywhere. Except, Ozpin had specifically instructed Lionheart to keep his professor close to defend the Relic hidden beneath the school if he didn't hear from him after such an event.

Why would the headmaster so blatantly disregard his friend's orders? Were things really that bad in the countryside? Or was something more sinister at work? Regardless, Ozpin had thought it best to exercise caution and wait until they'd acquired other allies before contacting Lionheart. Fortunately, he had another ally in the city.

In the swanky, upper class, part of the city… Oscar really hoped he wasn't going to end up in jail for this.

He checked the address on the house with the one he'd gotten from his research at the public library and rang the doorbell.

"One moment!" a voice called out from within. A few moments later, a pattering of footsteps emanated from within and the door swung open, revealing a woman with long red hair and deep brown eyes. She had a pair of cooking mitts on over her hands and had to glance about for a second before she realized Oscar was far shorter than whoever she was expecting, causing her to raise an eyebrow. "Hello there, young man. Are you selling popcorn for the Wood Scouts?"

"What?"

Oscar probably would have delivered a more eloquent response if not for the fact that he was currently trying to get his brain to work well enough to get his mouth to close before some very inappropriate drool began flowing out of his mouth. He'd grown up on a farm in the middle of nowhere, and the women he'd interacted with most during that time were his aunt and their rival farm's milkmaid. To suddenly be confronted by the most awe-inspiring example of feminine beauty he had ever seen was not something his fourteen-year-old mid-puberty mind was ready for.

" _Focus, Oscar."_

' _Humana, humana, humana…'_

" _Yes, she's gorgeous. Get moving."_

' _How are you unaffected by this?'_

" _I am old enough to have met and interacted with more beautiful and intelligent women than you could ever conceive. I understand your biological confusion, but we don't have time for it. And since you can now form complete sentences, I repeat, get moving."_

"Alright, alright," Oscar muttered, finally snapping back to himself, the woman seemingly more befuddled by his actions. He coughed and rose to try as look as respectable as possible. "I am not selling popcorn for the Wood Scouts, mam. I have an urgent message for Pyrrha Nikos from Professor Ozpin."

The woman's confusion shifted into full-blown suspicion, her eyes narrowing. "A bit young for a reporter, aren't you?"

"Huh?" Oscar replied. "I'm not a reporter. I'm here to deliver a message to Pyrrha Nikos about—"

"Her dead professor, yes, I heard you the first time," the woman cut in, shutting Oscar up, his body paralyzed in terror as she looked him over more in-depth. "No wire that I can see. No earpiece, even with that mumbling."

"I don't have an earpiece."

"Then why were you mumbling?"

"… I mumble?"

The woman didn't seem to buy that, but he couldn't very well tell her that he had a million-year-old wizard in his head that also happened to be the dead headmaster of Beacon. That would only make her slam the door faster, and that would force them to Lionheart just to have a place to sleep once the sun went down. He didn't think he could go another night in the alley.

Fortunately, it seemed the woman didn't want to take the risk of sending him away just in case he was telling the truth. She leaned back over her shoulder and yelled, "Pyrrha! Someone is here to see you!"

"Coming mother!"

Oscar felt it immediately after that, a sudden spark in a sense he'd only felt himself or Grimm with before. Missing it would have been like not seeing an explosion go off right in front of him. Within his mind, he felt Ozpin's own surprise at the development.

" _She's developed her own so quickly?"_

No sooner had the words passed through their shared consciousness, than a girl, looking like a younger sister to the woman who'd answered the door save with green eyes instead of brown, burst down the stairs and into the hall, floating in a golden aura before cutting it out.

"Pyrrha," the woman scolded. "What have I told you about using mag… magnificent semblance travel in the house?"

The girl, Pyrrha Nikos, evidently, took a second to look abashed. "Sorry, mother."

"Magic," Oscar muttered, both women turning on him, their eyes wide. "You have it too."

It probably should have been obvious that there would be others in the world wielding magic. Hell, Ozpin had flat out told him that he had allies with it. But considering that he could still barely believe that he had magic and was still a little amazed at the sneak preview of what he'd one day be able to do from Ozma's memory, the surge of magic power had still been a surprise. Though, a welcome one, to be sure.

The two redheaded women before him seemed to still be deciding whether or not it was from their perspective though.

"Who are you?" Pyrrha asked.

Oscar smiled what he hoped was a reassuring grin. "My name is Oscar Pine. I was told to ask you what your favorite fairy tale is."

* * *

 **Ah, JNR finally gets to show off what they've learned, though I suspect some are curious why I made the choices I did. Jaune's is pretty obvious, but I anticipate most will believe Ren and Nora's should have been switched. Have no fear, the thought process behind my decision will become clear in time.**

 **Ruby and Wendy make improvements and plans for improvements while getting a glimpse of certain divides in Mistral. Just wanted a short scene of them having fun together for the most part.**

 **Meanwhile, Oscar gets both a glimpse of Ozma's past and more importantly gets his fourteen-year-old eyes spoiled by Scarlet Nikos. Rest assured, this is not the start of either a running gag or anything more (that would be creepy as all hell), I just wanted to inject some groundedness in Oscar and let's face it, if any heterosexual boy in the midst of puberty met any woman from RWBY or Fairy Tail in real life, that would likely be at least some of their reaction. But anyways, Oz is now in Mistral to help train Pyrrha, so yay!**

 **Now then, announcement! Last year, I took the month of November off from my weekly story, then RWBY/Zero, in order to both focus on the current bombardment of schoolwork, ensure that my monthly stories did not fall behind, and catch the first few episodes of Volume 6 in order to incorporate any details possible from the opening episodes into the story. With Volume 7 and Weiss' current arc both focusing heavily on Atlas, I believe this is more crucial than ever. Thus, I have decided to once again take the month of November off from my weekly story in order to keep the current schoolwork assault from delaying my monthly stories too much and to ensure that this story stays as good as it can be. I thank you all for your understanding, and this story will return in December.**

 **An extra huge thank you to my patrons: ArcherMcMuffin, Gregg Tracton, Keith Traction, StabKingPro, Annaya Chan, Nora Okonus, Paula mandel, KefkaesqueXIII, and Christian Howard.**

 **Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!**

 **Go Forth and Conquer!**


	23. Chapter 22

**So, I have returned from hiatus, and those of you interested in 'The Third Faction' probably noticed that they were no updates last month despite me taking the month to write. I assure you, both Chapters 15 and 16 are written and with Draconic for beta-ing. However, he has been hit by school far harder than I have been and thus has had to delay. Rest assured, if all goes as planned, both chapters should be out by the end of December, as will Chapter 2 of 'One to Find All'.**

 **Meanwhile, this story returns to weekly updates. Enjoy!**

 **If you wish to support me and my college tuition, please check out my P a treon for future chapter summaries, story ideas and more: p a Treon.(c om) (backslash) themaster4444**

 **Beta-ed by xenosaiyan**

* * *

" _Listen girlfriend, can't you see?_

 _I'm all of the things that you'll never be!_

 _I'm cool like the rain, and I'm hot like the sun!_

 _I'm a neon rainbow and you're. no. fun!"_

"I didn't know she could sing," Weiss remarked, leaning back in her snug little booth.

In her months working with Atlas Intelligence, a lot had changed in the kingdom, mostly at the hands of General Ironwood. He'd fired Commander Obsidian from his post at the head of the Specialist Core and promoted Winter in his place. And while Weiss would normally be ecstatic at such a boon to her sister's career, she couldn't help but worry when her face started appearing alongside Ironwood's in quite unpopular public safety messages down in Mantle.

Quite unpopular seemed to be a common phrase when referring to General Ironwood and all his associates these days. His dust embargo was hurting businesses all across the kingdom, with those in Mantle bearing the brunt of the economic pain. During her stints in the lower city searching for information on Adam, Weiss had seen hundreds homeless on the streets begging for food and lien. Mobs and riots were only barely dissuaded by the substantial military force stationed in the slums, obstinately there to protect from Grimm, but just as capable of quelling people.

After so much time spent digging through the squalor her friends and family had caused, Weiss found it strange to be back among the splendor of Atlas Academy.

Next to her in the booth, Flynt Coal, her old opponent from the Vytal Festival, cracked a smirk. "Neon's one of the best there ever was on the mic. Could probably even give you a run for your money."

"Gray's certainly enjoying her," Weiss smiled back.

The pair had secluded themselves in a booth in the back of a club known as the Sterling Knight, a popular hangout among both students and alumni of Atlas Academy. Multicolored lights flashed across the dance floor as young men and women who would normally be the height of military discipline and décor let loose all their energy like the best of Vale or Mistral's party animals.

Up on stage, Neon sang an energetic tune, the three clones of Flynt's Killer Quartet semblance providing backup on the trumpet. The rainbow cat faunus (apparently the Knight was the only bar in Atlas that would let her in, let alone let her sing) leaned over the edge of the dais, serenading one particularly funky fresh dancer below.

Weiss didn't know when she'd seen Juvia again, but she'd already recorded a long video for her consisting entirely of Gray Fullbuster in leather pants, an open red dress shirt, and a fedora, breaking out some of the most extravagant dance moves she'd ever seen. Already, the crowd had formed a wide circle around him, clapping and cheering him on as he went.

Flynt chuckled. "He sure is. Where'd you find this guy anyway, Schnee?"

"He's an old friend," Weiss replied, smiling as the onlookers of Gray's dance, mostly the female ones, cheered when he completely removed his shirt. She couldn't deny she didn't enjoy it as well. Neon even hopped off the stage and began rubbing flesh with him while she sang. That would certainly be a section she'd need to edit out before showing it to Juvia.

"He's got some sweet moves, I'll give him that," Flynt nodded.

"That he does," Weiss nodded. She turned back to face her drinking buddy. "How's your father doing at his new position?"

"Pretty well. Being a manager under your father ain't easy, but he's putting food on the table again," Flynt said. "Thanks for getting him the job."

"It was my pleasure."

During the course of investigating possible corruption links to the Council Chairwoman, COMMAND ESR had given Weiss a list of known corrupt members of the SDC as leads to look into, as well as a token of goodwill. Intelligence had been keeping the list as possible blackmail material on the employees, but with Adam Taurus on the loose, they weren't going to take any chances.

While Weiss had unfortunately not been able to turn up anything on the Blood-Soaked Bull or any hints of treason, she had been able to take the opportunity to oust a few of the more disgusting employees from the company. And since father left the hiring at that level to others, it had been a simple matter to drop in on that department with a few suggestions.

"Pleasure or not, it means a lot," Flynt insisted, sliding over his soda. "If you ever need a hand, just say the word. Team FNKI will be there."

"Thank you," Weiss said. Granted, there was no way she would actually take him up on that offer. Team FNKI were skilled students, but they were still _students_. There was no way she was putting them in Adam Taurus or Atlas Intelligence's path. Though, given Flynt had family connections throughout Mantle, gathering information was hardly out of the question. Apparently, he even had a family friend on the Happy Huntresses, Robyn Hill's band of Mantle hometown heroes. "I don't suppose you've been able to find any more information on the dust flow?"

Flynt shook his head. "Not much. Most of its going where the SDC records say it is."

"Which is to say stockpiles?"

"That or the military. They're really taking advantage of your pops being forced to lower his prices," the trumpeter confirmed. "But there is one minor difference between the records you pulled, and the ones dad showed me. For some reason, a large shipment was sent to a Polendina Labs."

"Polendina?" Weiss muttered. "How large a shipment are we talking about?"

"The kind that requires a Specialist escort."

Weiss' brow crinkled. Ruby had been far closer to Penny than her, but she had still considered the sunny girl a friend. Being a robot didn't change that. Having a laboratory bearing the same last name as her, the same lab that produced the magic that freed Gray from his Fairy Sphere, suddenly getting an absurd amount of dust from the military? That would raise more than a few eyebrows, and not just from her. The convoy may have been well hidden in the paper trail, but the White Fang had managed to hijack the prototype paladin shipment. There was no guarantee that this wouldn't turn out the same, even with a Specialist escort.

Still, said escort would be an intimidating factor. Adam Taurus had never been what one would call mentally stable, but he hadn't conducted so many successful raids by being stupid. If he knew about the specialists, would he still take the chance at such a bountiful target?

" _Hey, heads up."_ Drizzella's voice crackled in her earpiece. _"You've got company at the door. The familial kind."_

Familial? Well, since Intelligence knew Rosenflos was having a conference call with Ironwood at the moment and father wouldn't be caught dead in a place like this, that only left one option.

Weiss glanced over to the club entrance and found her hunch to be right on the money. Winter, smartly dressed in her new uniform, had arrived, fidgeting uncomfortably at the edge of the flashing lights. Her eyes flickered all around the bar, obviously searching for someone.

Given that this place was hardly her sister's scene, Weiss could only conclude that Winter was here for her.

" _See if you can get out of there. It wouldn't do for anyone to wonder why the Ice Queen Schnee sisters were meeting in a place like this,"_ Drizzella advised. _"I'll run interference for you—"_

" _Driz! Hug your sis-sis!"_

" _Ana, what—"_

A startled gasp cut off any more words from the spy. Weiss glanced over at her position at the bar and found her currently engulfed by a red in the cheeks Ana Tremaine, which explained why Drizzella hadn't drop-kicked her already. And given that she hadn't been there several minutes ago, it seemed likely that Winter had done some reconnaissance of the bar and brought her own interference.

Weiss smirked at her sister's tactics. "See you, Flynt. It seems I have some family business to attend to."

The jazz musician tipped his hat, and Weiss took her leave, standing and striding up to her elder sibling. "Of all the clubs, in all the kingdoms, in all the world, you walk into mine."

"Cute," Winter smiled, though it lasted only a moment before her face became serious again. "Is there somewhere safe we can talk? Somewhere no one can overhear us?"

Weiss nodded and soon enough the two were secreted away in one of the club's private rooms. Winter personally checked to make sure the doors were sealed tight, before checking over the surrounding area.

"What are you doing?" Weiss inquired.

"Checking for listening devices," Winter explained. "There's no telling who could have bugged this room."

"It's a public bar. People use this room all the time. If someone wanted to listen in to this specific conversation, which we just decided to have five seconds ago, they'd probably have to get a lot of wild teenage make-out sessions in the bargain," Weiss pointed out. "Winter, what's all this about?"

Winter coughed, rising to her feet. "Nothing. It's just… the general has been trying to reach you for months to speak about mystical matters, but father has been blocking him."

"Sounds like father."

"Indeed," Winter nodded. "So, when Ana called me and said you were down here, I seized the opportunity."

"Sensible," Weiss acknowledged. "So, what's up? Does the general need my help with something?"

Winter cringed. "More he wants you to be aware of a situation. Certain details that are being kept quiet about the forces behind what happened at Beacon."

Weiss' eyes narrowed. Forces behind Beacon? Wasn't that just Cinder and the White Fang?

"What's your favorite fairy tale?"

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

"Holy crud! No wonder Weiss is so awesome if you taught her everything she knows. You've got some moves. And abs you could grate cheese on."

"Uh, thanks," Gray replied awkwardly, smothering the embarrassed redness in his cheeks as he threw his shirt back on while Neon dashed backstage. Flynt's clones kept the crowd going while his partner rested from the last several numbers. Or in this case, passed on intel on White Fang movements she'd gotten while visiting family in Mantle. She had slipped the chip containing the data into his pocket while the two were dancing together, in one of the few moments when he was glad that Eclipse Cancer's spell never faded from his subconscious (which he would never tell anyone ever. Natsu would never let him live it down). Weiss and Flynt had been so espionage style obvious talking in a shadowed booth in the back that anyone in the know would dismiss the rainbow cat faunus and half-naked ice mage dancing in full view of a crowded club as an obvious distraction. Granted, both activities were legitimate avenues of acquiring information, but when they suspected the Council Chairwoman of being their enemy, there was no such thing as being too careful. Anything they knew that the traitors didn't know they knew was a weapon for them to use.

As was anything their 'allies' didn't know they knew.

Gray had been through one hell of a time since he'd gotten to Remnant. Scrounging for food, squatting in abandoned buildings, doing jobs he probably shouldn't have done just to get enough lien to eat. Reuniting with Weiss, even if they were stuck working for Intelligence, was easily the highlight of his time there. He might not have seen her for years, but she was still his friend, always and forever. Fairy Tail always had each other's backs.

Which made him all the more suspicious of Atlas Intelligence. He was grateful for what they'd done for him, but he wasn't blind to the moral gray areas an espionage agency worked in, no matter how COMMAND ESR and Eleanor tried to paint it otherwise. They no doubt wanted to stop Adam Taurus from harming the kingdom, but he wasn't so certain that they cared if Weiss came out of it smelling like roses, no matter what they said about needed a public figurehead.

They wanted to work with them though, and they did want to save lives. For now, that was enough to work with them. But trust them? Not until he had a clearer picture.

Which led to him sneaking around to an alcove close to the bar, Drizzella and her sister easily within his hearing range while he was absent from their sight.

"Would you get off!" the Intelligence operative demanded.

"Not until I get a hug from my sis-sis," Ana sang. "Come on, you know you want to."

"I'm working!"

"You're working in a bar and still frowning? I always knew there was something wrong with you. How about you take yourself off the clock for a second and relax with your sis-sis. I mean, Win's already taken hers to a private room."

Drizzella's eyes shot over to where the Schnee sisters had just disappeared and glared at her sister. "She sent you to run interference."

"Yup!"

Gray expected her to growl or make some harsh remark towards her sibling, but instead she just sighed. "You're ridiculous."

"From a certain point of view," Ana grinned. "I'm still waiting on that hug."

Drizzella rolled her eyes but surprisingly did just that, returning her sister's embrace. For several seconds, the Tremaine siblings just sat there hugging. Despite himself, Gray cracked a smile at the display.

Soon enough, the huntresses separated, Ana raising a hand and calling over a pair of shots for them. The two of them leaned over the counter, sipping their drinks.

"So, how's specialist life treating you?" Drizzella asked. "Any discontent in ranks since Winter's promotion?"

Ana, suddenly seeming far less intoxicated than a moment before, shrugged. "A bit. The old guard isn't happy that Obsidian was kicked out for an operative that isn't even thirty. But Winter's got enough of a reputation that no one's saying stupid stuff like she slept with Ironwood for the job or something like that. And the Ace Ops are behind her and the General one hundred percent, so there really isn't anything anyone can do about the whole thing."

"That's good to hear. Winter's earned that rank," Drizzella nodded. "Why haven't you joined the Ace Ops? I can't imagine Clover turning you down if you asked."

"I'm a goof to them, remember?"

"So are Marrow and Elm. They're still on the team."

Ana turned away, frowning. She raised her shot to her lips. "They're also not alcoholics."

"Neither are you."

"To them I am. And I plan to keep it that way. Mom would just make me use the security clearance to get her more intel," Ana replied, taking a measured sip. "Besides, I like drinking. Let's me forget. You should try it."

Drizzella raised a hand and pointed towards the jagged scar under her left eye. "I can't forget."

Ana chuckled darkly. "Yeah, I suppose that is an issue. Hard to forget that shitshow with that thing staring you in the mirror."

"We did good work with Godmother's Haven," Drizzella insisted. "We stopped a war before it could start. Saved millions of lives."

"Ella wouldn't have given you that scar if it was 'good work'," Ana spat. "Ella and her father wouldn't be dead if it was 'good work'. For gods' sake, don't start spouting stupidity. Not even mom thinks that was 'good work' and she's fucking bonkers."

Drizzella scowled, setting her shot down. "Please don't speak that way about her. You know as well as I do that everything she does is for the good of Atlas."

Ana scoffed. "You might want to think of a new line. I don't think it's gonna cut it with Winter's little sister. Especially when she finds out you tried to arrest her teammate back in Vale."

Gray's eyes widened. They tried to do _what_? Which member of Team RWBY did they try to arrest?

"COMMAND ESR wants wizards. If I had gotten Belladonna to Atlas, she just would have made the same offer she made to Fullbuster," Drizzella defended.

"She wants those four in particular," Ana said. When Drizzella's eyes widened, prompting the redhead to roll her eyes. "Come on, don't tell me you haven't figured it out? She only sent you to Vale after Team RWBY's first match at the Vytal Festival, when they first showed off their magic. And yet, even before then, Intelligence was looking at them."

"Ruby Rose is a silver-eyed warrior," Drizzella argued. "After what happened with Ella, tracking down another one would obviously be a first priority."

"Yeah… probably," Ana admitted. She snatched up her shot and drained the rest of the alcohol before rising to her feet. "I'll say hi to Holly for you."

"Thank you," Drizzella said. She placed a comforting hand on her sister's arm before the other woman could go. "Ana, I know it doesn't feel like it sometimes… but we are making a difference. When we're finished, Atlas will be safer and stronger."

Ana spared her sister a tiny slip of a smile. "So mom says. And so you listen." She patted her sister's hand and removed her arm from her grip. "Give her and her hellcat my best, will you?"

"Lucifer is her semblance. It doesn't have feelings."

"She treats it better than us. See ya, sis."

Ana strode away through the crowd, cheering and throwing herself into the crowd. Drizzella watched her go and turned back to the counter, shaking her head with a sigh.

"It doesn't have feelings. What was I thinking?" she muttered, leaning her head into her palms.

Gray knew he should go. He'd found out bits of helpful information. Intelligence had some larger agenda involving all of Team RWBY, though he couldn't tell if Ana Tremaine was a spy in the Specialist, or a Specialist who her Intelligence family went to for inside information on their interservice rival. Maybe this Godmother's Haven was something to look into, Eleanor had mentioned it during her rant at the briefing? He should've gone to track down Weiss and told her what he'd learned.

But, seeing Drizzella keeled over at the bar counter, looking so lost, so unlike the stoic spy he'd come to know and tolerate because of apparent _family_ troubles… it made her feel… well, like an actual person. And Gramps, great man and fountain of compassion he was, would want him to at least try to comfort her.

Of course, Gramps had also nearly died more times than Gray could count… and did die that one time… goddamn it, he was still going to do it, wasn't he?

"Hey," he said, walking up next to the spy. "Are you okay?"

Drizzella sighed. "Probably not. But we have a mission to finish. It can wait for later."

"The mission is pretty much done. As soon as Weiss finishes with Winter, we can head back for debrief," Gray pointed out. "and since we have no control when they'll finish up—"

"Look, Gray," Drizzella interrupted. "I understand that you're trying to help but… we're not friends. And we don't need to be friends to work together. So, you and Weiss can handle your personal issues, and I'll… weather mine."

Gray shook his head. "If we're going to work together, we'll be stronger if we help each other."

"If we're fighting the same enemy," Drizzella countered. "If we're on different missions, and we learn the other is in danger… if we're _friends_ , then there's a chance either of us might compromise our tasks to save the other. And that could result in thousands of innocents paying the price for our _friendship_. Is that a risk you're willing to take?"

"Is it one you've ever had the courage to make?" Gray asked.

Drizzella scowled, turning aside as the strobe lights flashed across her ivory face. In the ever-changing energetic colors, her scar was an even more prominent anchor of rigid despair.

"Once," she revealed. "It didn't end well for anyone."

Gray was about to ask for more details when the door to Weiss and Winter's private room opened up, the Schnee sisters striding out. Well, Winter strode. Weiss stumbled out of the room, trying, and failing, to mask an expression of utter shock on her face.

"I'll meet you two back at the rendezvous point," Drizzella stated, already marching away. "Go give your friend a shoulder to lean on."

Gray scowled, but the spy wasn't wrong. He quickly made his way through the throngs of people to the Schnee sisters. Winter's eyes narrowed as soon as she caught sight of him, stepping forward to block him from reaching Weiss.

"It's alright, Winter," Weiss assured her, placing a gentle hand on the back of her hand. "He's a friend."

"He's Atlas Intelligence," Winter said sourly.

"He's Fairy Tail," Weiss countered.

That seemed to do the trick, Winter's eyes widening for a moment before she stepped aside. Gray shot her a thankful nod. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise… wizard," the Specialist replied. "I'm sure there's an interesting story behind how you got to Atlas and ended up working for COMMAND of all people. My apologies that your first impression of our world was that paranoid lunatic."

Gray shrugged. "Don't worry, I've met worse. Can I assume you're handling our bull problem from your end?"

Winter sighed. "Among others. The General recently brought me into his confidence on a number of projects, most of which I can't speak of. Not even the Council knows the details of them."

"Not even the Chairwoman?" Gray asked.

A frown crossed Winter's face. "Not even the Chairwoman. Though, rest assured, the general is aware of COMMAND ESR's preposterous suspicions towards Madam Rosenflos and finds them just as asinine as I do. Don't stick your neck out trying to prove such stupidity."

"Didn't plan to," Gray remarked. "Though, I don't suppose you could provide any insight on an Operation Godmother's Haven? Everyone seems rather prickly about that."

Winter cocked an eyebrow. "I've heard the name, but I don't know the details."

"Can you find them out?" Weiss inquired, her shock finally pushed aside. "Father got even more upset than usual when Ironwood mentioned it during their talk at the start of the embargo. It might be useful as leverage."

"As Specialist Commander, I likely have the clearance," Winter acknowledged. "But if it's classified, I can't tell about it."

"I'm pretty sure what you just told me is more than classified," Weiss protested.

"There is a difference between state secrets and… mystical matters," Winter said. "I will ask the general, but that's all I can do. I'm sorry."

Weiss grit her teeth, but in the end, she just engulfed her sister in a hug. Winter was startled for a moment, but quickly returned the gesture.

"Be careful, Winter," Weiss said.

"I should be telling you that," the elder sister chuckled. "I may not have magic, but you're going after Adam Taurus."

"Don't worry. I owe him one for Blake."

"I'm sure."

The sisters separated and Winter turned to go, pausing only briefly to look at Gray. "Protect her."

Gray nodded. "Always."

Winter returned his respect and exited the bar.

Weiss came up to him, her brow furrowed and unsure. "We should get to the rendezvous. Then, there's a lot you need to know."

"Same to you," Gray replied, frowning. "This place just keeps getting more complicated."

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

Deposed. Exiled. _Betrayed._

 _Always_ betrayed.

First Blake, his dear love, had abandoned him and their cause, just like her cowardly parents. All their hard work to make humanity pay, to make them kneel and suffer for all they've done, and she just walked out on it, on _him_. To be a _huntress_ , their pet attack dog. And what they'd done to her…

Adam shuddered at the memory of the Fall, the three long scars across his face flaring with pain. He did not know how Blake had been turned into such a monster, either by science or witchcraft, but he would not rest until he had driven his sword through her skull and put her out of her misery. Whatever her crimes, no one deserved to be turned into some human scientist's half-Grimm monstrosity.

It was kinder fate than he would afford the others who'd crossed him. Hazel and his master, who'd stabbed him in the back. The Albain brothers, who had done nothing as he was cast out. When he finished this suicide mission Sienna had forced him on, he would return and make them all _suffer_.

But first, an old and tried foe.

"I don't know!" the human screamed, his previously pristine SDC uniform left in rags. His wrists were bound above him, hanging him like a stuck pig. Blood dripped down from dozens of lacerations all over his body. "I swear! I don't know the codes!"

"Then who does?" Adam demanded, running his hand across Wilt's sheathed blade.

"I don't know!"

Adam turned to one of his men, one of the few remaining that he trusted, a loyal man who'd participated in the ill-fated coup on Sienna Khan. He raised a pair of sparking electrical wires and stalked towards the bleeding meatbag.

"I don't know!" the human screamed. "It's a military convoy! We just load the dust! We have nothing to do with it after that!"

"I believe you," Adam assured him.

The masked soldier stepped forward and slammed the wires into the human's chest. There was a scream, a sweeter music than Adam had heard in a long time. Then, silence.

"What are we going to do?" the soldier asked. "Without those codes, we can't launch the attack. And if we can't launch the attack, there's no way High Leader Khan will let us come back—"

"I am High Leader!" Adam growled. "This… setback, is only that. Understood?"

The soldier gulped. "Of course, sir—High Leader."

Adam grunted in approval before turning away from their former hostage. "Clean that up. We'll get another one."

"And if they don't know the codes either?"

"We'll find another," Adam snarled. "And another, and another, until someone talks."

" _How barbaric… and more importantly, ineffective."_

Both Adam and his torturer whirled around, both knowing the voice they heard, distorted as it meant have been, shouldn't have been possible.

And yet, the human, the man they had just killed, raised his head, his eyes blank and yet still speaking.

"What the hell?" the grunt gasped, dropping the wires. "He's… he's dead! His heart stopped!"

"Yes, it did," Adam noted, ice in his voice. "I take it I am no longer speaking to… whoever this human rat was."

The human corpse's twitched to the side, its chained arms ambling like a puppet with limp strings. "I… I… I am SD… SDC… _I am your new benefactor._ "

Adam sneered. "You're magic. A wizard. Your kind isn't to be trusted."

" _Magic is only a paltry fraction of what I am capable of_. _And as proof of my goodwill, I will gladly give you the clearance codes you so desire."_

The bull faunus frowned. Getting those codes would finally allow them to make real headway in their efforts against the SDC, something the brand over his left eye very much hungered for. Whatever his fury at Blake, or Hazel, or his other enemies, the Schnees above all other humans would pay for their crimes against him. However, he also wasn't going to trust a disembodied wizard who'd possessed a corpse he'd just killed.

But… the longer they stayed inactive, the greater the chance Atlas Intelligence would track them down. Sienna wasn't giving them any assistance at all, and they'd nearly been found out half a dozen times. The only reason they'd been able to escape was because they'd received mysterious warnings from someone called… wait…

"What's your name?" Adam demanded.

The ends of the corpse's mouth rose up like a child forcing a person's mouth to smile. " _My name is of no concern to you. But, for the sake of communication, you may call me Keyes._ "

The same name as those mysterious warnings. It appeared that the wizard did not want him dead after all. He'd be careful, ready to drive a sword into this new ally's back just as easily as he'd had one driven into his own. But, if he could use this necromancer to launch his attack on the SDC, to make up lost ground, to finally begin delivering just a fraction of the justice mankind so richly deserved…

Well, perhaps then he'd get what he deserved after all.

A manic grin spread across his face. Justice was coming, for all his enemies.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

"While I'm grateful for your company, Ilia, you know there's really no need to escort me to the fishmonger's."

Ilia shot Kali her best reassuring smile, the both of them strolling down Kuo Kuana's sunny streets, passing vendors and their colorful stalls along the way. Several civilians waved to the cat faunus as they strode through the marketplace, pleasantly calling greetings to the Chieftain's wife. Though technically not employed by the settlement's government, her husband's position granted Kali a great deal of public influence, which she in turn increased through various charity projects.

And the reason Tyrian would probably go after her if he got impatient. Thus, not wanting to jeopardize their already tenuous relationship with Ghira, the Albain brothers had assigned Ilia as the older woman's bodyguard.

"It's no trouble at all, Mrs. Belladonna," Ilia assured her, having to remind herself not to reach for her whip when a ram faunus woman came over to shake Kali's hand. "I'm just not used to people smiling at me so much."

Kali sighed. "I take it Corsac and Fennec are still on edge? I will admit Mr. Callows is… unusual, but it has been quite some time since he arrived, and he has not hurt anyone. Perhaps he has changed since they last saw him."

Ilia almost chuckled at the older woman's remark. She and Blake really were mother and daughter. Beyond how similar they looked to each other (Ilia had to remind herself every other minute that Kali was happily married), both of them believed in people, that they could change for the better if given time and the chance. Though the chameleon faunus found the idea naïve, humanity wouldn't change unless the White Fang forced them to, she couldn't deny there was something beautiful about it, like the world would be better if they just believed it could be. Maybe that was part of why she'd fallen in love with the younger Belladonna.

However, a beautiful naïve idea was still naïve.

"Do you really want a guy who breaks out in psychotic laughter every few minutes and rambles on alternatively about a 'dark queen' and a 'goddess' who may or may not be the same person to take Blake away to meet said person?"

Kali cringed. "Fair point. Though, after all this time I wonder if he might simply be a distraction of Sienna's to keep Ghira from trying to reassert control over the White Fang in the wake of Adam's attempted coup."

Ilia's jaw nearly dropped. Like Blake, she often forgot that while Kali might have some naïve ideals, that didn't mean she _was_ naïve. According to Sienna's stories, she attracted Ghira both with her beauty and by talking politics with him back when he led the White Fang.

"I… honestly don't know," she confessed. "High Leader Khan might be trying to consolidate her position, but I don't think she'd use Blake against you two. You have too much history together."

Kali sighed, the pair of them finally arriving at the fishmonger. "I hope you're right. Sienna may have our differences with us, but I'd hate to think she'd fallen so far. Still, we must have combed the settlement top to bottom a dozen times now, and we haven't even found a hint of Blake."

The two of them opened the door to the fishmonger shop, a little bell chiming at their entrance. Surprisingly, for once, they weren't the only ones in the shop, a blond monkey faunus adamantly speaking with the shopkeeper at the counter.

"Look, man, just sell me the trout," the monkey faunus pleaded, holding out a handful of lien bills. "Come on, my friend's been having trouble with her training and she needs a pick me up. I'm just trying to help her."

The seagull faunus snubbed his long beak at the blonde. "Yeah, I'm sure you're _just_ trying to help."

"I am! Why does having abs automatically mean I'm trying to get into her pants?"

The shopkeeper rolled his eyes. "Look, kid, I'm sorry. You've given me good business for the last few months, but fishing was slow this week and I only have enough to fill my reserved order. Speaking of, I'll have your order ready right away, Kali."

"Oh, so you're the one hogging all the trout," the monkey faunus whirled around. "Well, you really don't want to make my friend—Blake?"

Ilia's eyes widened instantly, Kali's amber irises doing the same. "What?"

The blonde flinched back, suddenly looking very nervous. "Oh, sorry. You sort of remind me of a friend, and I said the wrong thing."

Like Ilia was buying that. In the blink of an eye, she had her whip out and at the monkey faunus' throat, crackling with electricity.

"Okay, okay, you can have the trout!" the boy protested.

"Ilia, put that down now!" Kali commanded.

"You said Blake," Ilia said. "You called her Blake. You know where she is!"

"Of course I do!" the monkey faunus shouted. He pointed towards Kali. "She's right there!"

"Not her! Blake!" Ilia shouted. "You know where—ah!"

She'd let him work her up, and for a crucial moment she'd forgotten that being able to see a person's hands and feet didn't mean you were safe on an island of faunus. His golden tail shot up from behind him and lashed itself around her wrist, jerking her weapon to the side. Thrown off-balance, the monkey boy dropped down and swept her legs out from under her.

"Sorry," he said, saluting Kali and dashing out the door, casually dodging a weak swipe of Ilia's whip. "Nice to meet you!"

Kali rushed to Ilia's side, but the chameleon faunus had already leapt back to her feet and given chase, ignoring the matriarch's clamor of protests. This guy was the first lead they'd had on Blake in months, there was no way she was letting him get away.

Unfortunately, that wasn't going to be an easy task. Just from their brief scuffle, she could tell the blonde was well-trained, his movements fluid and his strikes solid. He weaved through the marketplace crowd like a snake through a swamp, navigating the throngs of people and stalls with barely any loss of speed before quickly ducking down a back alley. Clearly, this was not his first time being pursued.

But Ilia wasn't one to give up easily. She knew these streets better than almost anyone and had quite a bit of agility learned from dodging Atlas Security. Once she knew she wouldn't accidentally hit any civilians, the pulled her whip back and thrust it into the side of a nearby building. With a simple tug and a mighty leap, she carried herself onto the rooftops, quickly catching sight of her simian scoundrel.

With her height advantage and knowledge of the area's shortcuts, she was swiftly able to catch up to him. However, said height advantage also cast her shadow across the alley, a fact that her target quickly noticed, glancing back to catch sight of her approaching form. He scowled and jumped up onto a nearby construction frame, evening their ground and beginning to pull away again.

Eventually, their chase brought them to the edge of the settlement, the lush jungle extending out in front of them. Not that it stopped either of them. They simply shifted from dashing across rooftops to hopping through the tree branches. The new environment provided Ilia with many more things to latch onto with her whip and before long she flew towards her target with a flying kick.

The monkey faunus whirled around and caught the bottom of her foot as it came towards his face, pushing her off into the air. She rolled with her momentum and landed on the same branch, lashing out with her whip to force him back towards the trunk.

"Where is she?" Ilia demanded, sparks flashing past her face. "Where are you keeping her?"

"Keeping her?" the monkey faunus squeaked, frantically dancing around the lash. "I wouldn't be able to 'keep' Blake anywhere even if I wanted to."

… That was actually a very good point.

Ilia took a deep breath and recalled her whip. She didn't drop it, but she stopped recklessly attacking the guy, which in hindsight, may have been uncalled for.

"Look," she said. "I'm sorry. But that woman back there? That was Blake's mother."

"Mother? Looked more like a sister."

"Yeah, they're both really hot," Ilia agreed immediately before shaking herself back to seriousness. "She and her dad, and me, are worried about her. There's this psycho on the island looking for her—"

"Adam Taurus is here!?"

"Adam is not- ugh! No, it's a scorpion faunus. Calls himself Tyrian Callows."

"Never heard of him," the blonde replied. "How did he even know Blake was on the island?"

"No idea, he just does," Ilia said, not wanting to explain the psycho's obsession with his 'wondrous and magnificent goddess of dark stars'. "But we need to find Blake before he does and make sure she's safe. So, where is she?"

The monkey faunus winced like he had just stubbed his toe. "Yeah, see, there's a small problem with that. While I personally would like nothing more than to have Blake be surrounded by family and friends who care about her and support her… she herself is less enthusiastic about that prospect."

"Why?!"

"She has _a lot_ of self-worth problems she needs to work out," he replied. "And, admittedly, another issue that is a bit of a better reason to isolate herself."

"What?!" Ilia demanded. "What could possibly be a good reason for isolating herself?"

"So she can master her magic power of turning into an out of control super-Grimm."

Ilia snarled, her whip flaring up again. "Are you mocking me?"

"Gods I wish I was," the blonde sighed. "But she wants to be careful with this, to protect the people she cares about. I'm doing my best to convince her that doesn't mean cutting herself off, but all I can do is try to convince her. I can't make that decision for her. All I can do is support her choice."

"That's not good enough."

The monkey faunus shot her a small smile, his youthful face far more tired than it had any right to be. It was an expression Ilia had seen in the mirror many times before. "It'll have to be."

"She's in danger. We can't protect her if we don't even know where she is," Ilia declared. "Tell me where she is. Please!"

The boy let out a long breath. He reached behind his back, withdrawing a pair of red and gold nunchucks. "I'm sorry."

Ilia sighed. "So am I."

Her whip lashed out like a striking viper, its electrified tip streaking for the monkey faunus' exposed chest.

It never reached him. The blonde's first nunchuck flew out and wrapped around the whip's thread, allowing him to tug it to the side, the boy's teeth gritting as his aura weathered the electric shock. He swung his second nunchuck around and smacked Ilia in the face, before pulling his weapon around and firing a shotgun blast into her stomach.

After that, the rest of the fight was admittedly a bit of a blur for the chameleon faunus. One moment, her opponent was blitzing her with a flurry of shotgun blasts and rapid-fire headshots, and the next, her head was ringing while she plummeted through the trees, the monkey faunus leaping away into the foliage.

"No…" she muttered, reaching out with her hand. "I'm not letting… Blake get… hurt."

She threw out whip and snagged onto an errant branch. It nearly wrenched her arm out of her shoulder, but it arrested her fall.

But at this point, it was pretty clear that a straight-up confrontation with the monkey faunus was not going to go her way. Ilia was a capable fighter, but this guy was huntsman-trained at the very least and his hard-hitting close combat style was a perfect counter for her strategy of wearing an opponent down over a drawn-out battle. She wouldn't be able to force him to tell her where Blake was.

But the White Fang had trained Ilia to do more than just fight. She was a scout, an infiltrator who moved behind enemy lines unseen causing chaos and retrieving vital information. Combat was only one tool in her arsenal.

Her skin faded to a camouflage of green, olive, and brown and she immersed herself in the jungle, stealthily trailing behind the monkey faunus. She would find her friend, no matter what.

* * *

 **So, I saw the first five episodes of Volume 7 and so far I am loving this season. Don't want to make any calls right now, since I thought the same of Volume 5 during its first few episodes, but if RT keeps it up they might produce their best Volume yet.**

 **However, this also creates a problem for me as I want to include all the awesome new characters from Volume 7 I can and I need to introduce them, especially since certain developments from Ironwood's plan have given me great ideas for the future that won't pay off for a while. Rest assured, Ironwood told Winter the truth about the Salem war and she just told Weiss and Gray with his permission. Still not sure if I like the Atlas sections in this chapter. Feel too much like clunky exposition at parts. I can only hope they were entertaining.**

 **Oddly enough, I liked Ilia's section the best this chapter. Her and Sun's chase, conversation, and fight was a lot of fun to write.**

 **An extra huge thank you to my patrons: ArcherMcMuffin, Gregg Tracton, Keith Traction, Annaya Chan, Nora Okonus, Paula mandel, KefkaesqueXIII, Christian Howard, and SanyaBane.**

 **Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!**

 **Go Forth and Conquer!**


	24. Chapter 23

**FINAAAAALLLLSSSSSS... have actually been going pretty well. Three down, two to go, I should be home some time next week. Fun times.**

 **If you wish to support me and my college tuition, please check out my P a treon for future chapter summaries, story ideas and more: p a Treon.(c om) (backslash) themaster4444**

 **Beta-ed by xenosaiyan**

* * *

Fennec Albain did not like feeling helpless.

Granted that was not a unique opinion by any stretch. No being on Remnant _liked_ being helpless. Everyone liked to imagine that were in control of their own destiny, forging their path through the tumultuous expanse of the world. But for Fennec, one who was helpless might as well not have been alive, for all the good they did for themselves and their loved ones. He and Corsac had been helpless on the streets of Mantle, persecuted, belittled, and beaten whenever a gang of drunk humans wanted to feel better about themselves. It was why they'd joined the White Fang, why they'd worked tirelessly to climb the ranks when Sienna Khan's reign ushered in a more violent era. And when that era had begun to stagnate, when humanity had begun to disregard the White Fang as just another terrorist group, instead of the wrath of the faunus upon a world that refused to give them their due, they had followed the changing wind and quietly thrown their support behind the leader that would guide their race to salvation.

But everything had gone wrong. Brother Adam's human allies had turned on him and Sienna had crushed his uprising. Even now the High Leader purged the ranks of the White Fang, either through blood or ideological conversion. With the Blood-Soaked Bull banished to Atlas and unable to counteract her influence, the tiger faunus' force of will was quickly restoring her followers' faith. A task made even easier with the mysterious Hazel Rainart at her back.

Now, where once he and his brother would have been the most valued lieutenants in the Fang, they were scrambling to hide their involvement, caught between Ghira Belladonna and their old mad enforcer of all people. Any moment, either of the two men could decide that the Albains had betrayed them, or had outlived their usefulness, or even just would look better without their heads, and that would be the end of them. A situation completely outside their control. Helpless.

Until now.

"And Sister Ilia is sure that this monkey faunus' camp is where Lady Blake is?" he asked his brother, just to make sure.

Corsac nodded, swirling his drink and moving to take a seat in their private quarters of the Menagerie White Fang headquarters. "She didn't see the lady, she couldn't risk being seen and having him move, but she was able to confirm that the boy was in contact with our errant Belladonna. As such, even if she isn't there at the moment, taking him will eventually lead us to her. Sister Ilia was wise to come to us with this information first."

"Yes, she is devoted to the cause," Fennec concurred. He'd been a bit unsure what to expect when the third wheel of Brother Adam and Lady Blake's renowned team was sent to their care, but the young Amitola had proven herself time and again, this newest mission only the latest in her long line of successes. Why, if she was a tad less squeamish about the more _unfortunate_ aspects of their crusade then the younger Albain might have gone so far as to call her the perfect operative. "So, what now? She was guarding Kali when the chase started, so the Chieftain will expect an update. Should we send her along to them?"

"Hmm… yes. But perhaps we should do a bit more. Set our sights a tad… _higher_."

Fennec scowled, leaning back in his chair. "Whatever gets Tyrian off this island the fastest is high enough for me. However, devoted he is to this new goddess of his, I doubt he's truly forgiven us for his final mission."

Corsac shrugged. "Perhaps he has. Callows has always thrown all he has into whatever cause he chose to serve, as long as he was still able to… indulge himself. If this Queen of his truly has his loyalty, he may not care anything for the time before he came into her service. He may really just be here to retrieve Lady Blake."

"So? What if he is? How does that change our situation?"

"It doesn't. But it does provide an opportunity," Corsac declared, sipping from his drink. "Tyrian may be devoted but he is also impulsive to the extreme. He will take Lady Blake to this 'goddess' of his… but what do you think he would do to anyone he discovered to be working against that objective?"

Fennec's eyes widened, finally seeing what his brother was suggesting. A cunning grin spread over his face. "I imagine they would meet a tragic fate. And on a completely unrelated note, if our dear Chieftain were to suddenly be found… unfit to perform his duties, we would be the next logical choice to take over the post. Provided Lady Kali has no desire for the position of course."

"Or similarly indisposed as her husband," Corsac smiled. "We would have to leave the White Fang of course, follow wise Ghira's example. High Leader Khan would have to do without us."

Fennec almost wanted to laugh. It was so simple! Their instinctual terror of Tyrian must have been the reason they hadn't realized the opportunity months ago! After all, the simple fact of the matter was that Ghira did not like them, and liked Adam Taurus even less. If High Leader Khan revealed to him that they had supported the Blood-Soaked Bull, no amount of favor would keep the Chieftain of Menagerie from leaving them to their fate. But if one of them was the chieftain…

Well, it would hardly win the White Fang any popularity if they went against the _official_ heads of the faunus world. High Leader Khan would be forced to let their previous errors in allegiance go and work with them as equal allies in the fight to liberate their people.

"If we are in agreement brother, I will send Sister Ilia to the chieftain with the boy's location at once," Corsac declared. "Then we can call Brother Tyrian and inform him of the ruinous deception we've discovered."

"Just a moment, brother," Fennec called. "If we send Ilia to tell the Belladonnas of the camp, she will demand to go with them. And that means she is more than likely to get caught up in the unpleasantness to follow."

Corsac shrugged. "Indeed. She has served the cause faithfully and will do so in death as well. After all, when a sacrifice must be made, one rarely gets a bargain as good as one pawn for two kings."

Fennec thought about it for a moment. Sister Ilia was a good soul, one who had suffered greatly and yet pressed on in spite of it, striving to ensure the humans would pay for all they had done to their people. Losing her would be a tremendous loss to the cause. But, if it was a choice between her, and being helpless once again…

Then it really was no choice at all.

* * *

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" _And this one is a beautiful romance novel."_

" _Like one of Blake's?"_

" _Eh, it focuses more on the romance and the characters than the… consummation."_

" _Oh, so not like Blake's."_

" _No, not really. So, do you want to try it?"_

 _Ruby sighed. "I'm sorry, Levy. Romance novels just aren't my thing. The characters go on and on about how much they love each other, but they don't actually do anything."_

" _Which ones were you reading? That's only the bad ones," Weiss insisted. She leaned over the Guildhall table and plucked the book from Levy's hands, a hungry grin on her face that had nothing to do with the lunch that Mirajane had just brought to their table_

 _The partners, Wendy, Carla, and Erza had sat down for a meal with half of Team Shadow Gear (apparently Jet and Droy had taken a job on their own to prove themselves or something). Since it was the midday rush, the wait had turned out to be quite a while. To pass the time Gajeel and Wendy had started up a game of checkers (which, based on how often he was slamming his head into the table, the Iron Dragon Slayer was losing) while Erza and Pantherlily engaged in a friendly duel, their swords flashing faster than most could see._

 _As for Ruby and Weiss, they'd taken advantage of Blake still being away on her job to finally break their teammate's monopoly on Fairy Tail's preeminent bookworm's library. Unfortunately, while Weiss snatched up each new suggestion with glee ("it's literature from another world! How can we not read it all?"), Ruby found Levy's tastes and her own didn't particularly match up._

 _The bluenette frowned. "If you don't like that one, Ruby, I think I have some adventure novels you might like."_

" _Nah, that's alright," the red hooded girl assured her. "I guess I'm just looking for a certain kind of book."_

 _Weiss raised an eyebrow. "Certain kind of… oh my gods. Ruby, we have the chance to read the greatest world of literature this dimension has to offer and you're seriously looking for comics?"_

" _I… actually yeah. I couldn't put my finger on it, but comics sound pretty good right now. Thanks, Weiss!"_

" _Ugh! You're welcome, dolt."_

 _Levy cocked her head to the side. "Comics? Like, superheroes? They have those on your world too?"_

" _Yeah! They're awesome!" Ruby squealed. "There's Captain Vale, Major Atlas, the Animalist, Sailor Shattered Moon, Disgruntled Dirk, the Road Warrior of Vacuo…"_

" _Low brow entertainment for the lowest common denominator," Weiss sneered._

 _Ruby whirled on her partner. "What? You don't like comics?! Since when?"_

" _Since every single one decided to make a carbon copy of my family's company a bad guy!"_

" _What? That's ridiculous. I mean sure, there's the Snow Dust Company, the Sch-neh Dust Company, the Schne Dust Company—wow, I don't know how I never noticed that."_

" _Exactly! It's blatant libel!" Weiss protested. "My father may be a horrid piece of filth, but I searched the entire mansion for secret doomsday lasers a dozen times and never found anything!"_

" _Duh," Gajeel scoffed. "They're secret."_

" _King me."_

" _Damnit!"_

 _Ruby chuckled and turned back to Levy. "So, what superheroes do you guys have?"_

" _Magnolia has only one superhero!" Erza interjected loudly, instantly beside the table, Pantherlily blinking as he was suddenly swinging at dust. The Queen of the Fairies didn't notice, merely standing ramrod straight and grinning into the distance. "She is stronger than a rampaging Vulcan. Faster than a speeding train. Able to leap Kardia Cathedral in a single bound! Her heart is as pure as her costume is purple, for she is the graceful sentinel, the watchful maiden. She is Fairy Woman!"_

" _Wow," Ruby murmured, her eyes twinkling in awe. "A real live superhero! What's she like?"_

" _No one knows," Erza informed her apprentice. "She appears throughout Magnolia town to give help to any honest souls that require it and annihilate any who act in evil's name. And then, she vanishes like the wind."_

" _Awesome!" Ruby exclaimed. "Do you think she'd let me be her sidekick?"_

 _Weiss sighed. "Ruby, Fairy Woman is literally just Er—"_

 _Mira strode in and stopped Weiss from finishing her sentence. "Let them have this."_

" _But it is obviously—"_

" _Some things hold more power because they are believed in than because they are true," the barmaid insisted._

 _Ruby raised an eyebrow. "Wait, so Fairy Woman isn't real?"_

" _Of course, she's real!" Erza insisted. She stared over to Mira, who just smiled happily and nodded. The Queen of the Fairies pumped her fist._

" _That's amazing!" Ruby cheered. "Does she have a comic?"_

 _Erza's face immediately plummeted. "Uh…"_

 _She snatched Levy by the shoulders and dashed away with the bookworm. "One moment, we'll go write—I mean, find one!"_

" _What?" Levy wailed. "I can't write! That's Lu's job!"_

" _Of course you can, shrimp!" Gajeel called, running after them. "You can make it a crossover with Fairy Man!"_

" _And Fairy Boy!" Pantherlily yelled, following his partner._

 _Ruby raised an eyebrow as the gaggle of wizards charged away, throwing tables and chairs aside as they went. Pretty soon, the charge provided a spark for the latest Fairy Tail brawl. With Natsu and Yang still away, Gray and Juvia dominated the chaos, icy water sweeping away the competition._

 _At least, for the moment._

" _Aw yeah," Ruby grinned, drawing Crescent Rose from her back. "This is gonna be—ow! Ow! Ow!"_

" _You can join in the carnage later, Ruby," Weiss commanded, pinching her partner's ear as she dragged her back to the booth, Mira casually deflecting any errant attack that came near them. "Our lunch just arrived, and you are not going into a fight on an empty stomach."_

" _But Weiss—"_

" _No buts! Now eat your vegetables."_

 _Ruby frowned, but put away her scythe for a fork, picking at the Brussel sprouts Yang had made sure Weiss had made sure she'd ordered. It so wasn't fair! She was team leader! Why could they make her eat vegetables?_

" _Hey, Mira, you can do transformation magic, right?" the red hooded girl inquired. "Can you use it to transform these things into something tasty?"_

" _Ruby!"_

" _What? They'll still be the same thing. They'll just taste better."_

" _That's… actually a very good point," Weiss muttered, turning to the barmaid herself. "Could you do that? Change their taste to something else while maintaining their nutritional value?"_

 _Mira chuckled, backhanding one of Evergreen's Fairy Machine Guns' without ever turning away from them. "That's something produce companies have been working on for years now. I've been called in as a consultant from time to time, but they're still working on it."_

" _Consultant? I didn't realize you were that skilled in it, Mira," Weiss admitted. "I mean, I knew you were powerful and that you know many types of magic, but I didn't think you focused on any particular area beyond your Take Over."_

" _For a while, I didn't," Mira replied. "But after I stopped going on jobs after what happened to Lisanna, Master took me under his wing directly."_

" _Gramps is one of the Ten Wizard Saints, right?" Ruby said. "He must know a lot of magics."_

" _More than most of the others. He helped me understand my Take-Over when I first came to the guild, and since I had the time, we paid special attention to the parent transformation magics."_

" _And now you're one of the top experts on it in the kingdom," Weiss whistled. "That is truly spectacular. The academic rigors and technique practice you must have put into it—"_

" _Can you transform into someone for us?" Ruby begged. "Like, uh, Yang! Do Yang!"_

" _Ruby, why would she—"_

 _There was a puff of smoke, and suddenly it might as well have been Yang standing there in Mira's clothes, shooting them her usual shining grin. "Hey, Rubes! You better eat your vegetables if you want to grow big and strong like me!"_

" _Big and strong?" Wendy muttered, her eyes flickering between her chest and that of Mira- Yang._

" _I'll eat them eventually, gosh! I already drink milk isn't that enough—oh!" Ruby's eyes lit up, bursting into streams of rose petals as she circled her guildmate. Long, luscious golden curls. Toned, bulging muscles. Shapely, supple hips that she'd seen way too many boys and girls stare at for way too long. Even the mole in her armpit that no one else knew about was there. "This is awesome! Oh, do me! Do me!"_

 _A puff of smoke later and she was staring into her own silver eyes._

" _Just so you know, I'm not sharing my cookies with you," Mira-Ruby grinned. "You have to eat your vegetables before you get any of your own."_

" _NOOOOOOOOOO!"_

 _Weiss ignored her kneeling partner and leaned into Mira. "Fascinating," she muttered, carefully examining the wizard's face. "Is it difficult to get the details of the face just right?"_

" _Not really. The higher-level techniques involve altering your clothes, or changing your form entirely," Mira explained. "But with changing into another person, it just means you have to picture them in your mind. Other than that, it's not very difficult, the simple stuff barely even uses any magic power. You could even move around the features as long as you're careful with the picture in your head. Like this."_

 _Her cheeks bloated to utterly ridiculous size and her nose grew out into a tree branch. Ruby and Wendy burst out into giggles and even Weiss had to suppress a chuckle._

 _Mira grinned and slowly pulled the face's features back to normal. But when they reached a certain point, the cheeks just a bit wide and the nose a tad too stout, Ruby's smile vanished._

" _Hey, Mira," she muttered. "Can you keep it like that? Just for a second?"_

 _The Take-Over mage raised an eyebrow but did as she asked. "Is something wrong? I can drop it if you want?"_

" _No, that's not it," Ruby assured her. "It's just, well, when you're like that, you kind of look like my mom."_

" _Your mother?" Wendy said._

 _Wendy raised an eyebrow. "I know Yang said you two looked alike, but I didn't think she meant that much."_

 _Ruby groaned. "Tell me about it. It got really weird the last time dad went drinking with Uncle Qrow. Yang had to hit them both over the head to snap them out of it."_

 _Mira turned back to normal and smiled sadly at the red hooded girl. "I take it your mother has passed?"_

" _It's the life of a huntress. You go on a mission and you might not come back," Ruby noted, her tone unusually matter-of-fact. "I was really young when it happened. Honestly, I remember Yang raising me more than her. But, the memories I do have of her… are really good. Little things, like her baking, or her cloak, or just a bedtime story. Enough to know that she loved me."_

 _The rest of the group did their best to smile at her story, but their melancholy slipped through, Weiss and Wendy even looking away. Ruby supposed it made sense. Between her, her partner, and the Sky Dragon Slayer, all of them were separated from their moms somehow. And Mira…_

… _turned towards the brawl?_

" _Elfman!" she shouted over the chaos. "Throw me the jar!"_

" _The manly jar?"_

" _No, the other one!"_

" _Got it!"_

 _A moment later, a pastel blue jar with dark green floral soared through the chaos of the guildhall, just barely veering through a storm of Alzack and Bisca's gunfire. Mira lifted her hand and plucked it out of the air. She removed the lid and extended the container towards Ruby, revealing dozens of cookies within._

" _Your mom isn't the only one who liked to bake," the she-devil grinned. "I don't think Yang will complain if you have one before lunch."_

 _Ruby squealed and snatched up a chocolate chip from the top of the pile. She shoved it past her lips and the delicious confection melted in her mouth._

" _Mmmmm…" she sighed. "It's even better than Yang's. Where'd you learn to make them like this?"_

" _Trial and error," Mira said, extending the jar towards Wendy and Weiss when they edged closer. "Master wouldn't let me drink after what happened to Lisanna. A bit hypocritical of him, but he was right that baking was a far better way to deal with my feelings."_

 _Ruby nodded. "Having seen the drinking way in action, I agree."_

" _Seconded," Weiss chimed, biting into an oatmeal raisin._

" _You never mentioned Master helping you like that before," Wendy noted. "Is that how you came to manage the guild?"_

 _Mira nodded. "Before I came here, I had to be Elfman and Lisanna's caretaker as well as their sister, not an easy task when I couldn't control my magic and everyone thought I was a demon. But by letting us join Fairy Tail, Master took us in as his children. He became our father in every way that matters. And when I thought Lisanna was gone because of me, he knew the pain I was feeling, and helped me through it. As parents… we can only do our best to take care of the ones we love. As long as we do everything in our power to take care of them and protect them, then there's nothing else to be done. We have to move forward, however we can."_

" _Hey, you brats! Stop breaking the guildhall!"_

 _They all glanced towards the floor of the hall, the formerly chaotic brawl now frozen in its tracks as an enormous giant cast a towering shadow over the combative wizards._

" _Can't a man enjoy a midday drink in peace anymore without his children making a mess of the place!" Master Makarov complained. "For gods' sake, Natsu isn't even here!"_

 _Ruby, Wendy, and Mira giggled at that, while Weiss and Carla merely sighed._

" _After all, there's so much we still have left in the world. And as impossible as it seemed at the time, I got Lisanna back," Mira mused. "The future can always be better. We just have to work to see it."_

* * *

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"…and then I ate the whole chicken!" Nora finished, a wide grin beaming from her face. "True story."

"That's disgusting," Carla declared.

"How did you even get the Beowolf to sing?" Wendy inquired, raising a curious eyebrow. "Do Beowolves sing? I haven't seen many."

"I don't… think they do," Ruby answered, not entirely sure herself.

The group had arrived in the town of Higanbana, a rather large village with a popular inn, which in turn allowed the settlement to pay for enough protection to ward off most Grimm. Safety bred travelers, which bred more revenue, which bred more protection, and the cycle continued. It was a cynical take on Remnant's way of life. But if people were safe, who were they to complain? At least they'd have a night out of the rain.

After a satisfying dinner at the tavern across the street, they'd split up for the night, Uncle Qrow booking a room at the bar to keep his semblance from affecting them while they slept. Though there was a strange increase in the density of the ethernano over there, almost like with Cinder at Beacon Tower. Ruby had suggested staying close just in case, but her uncle had just sighed and assured her that it was nothing to worry about. Just a "bitch of a bird".

Ruby wondered how a bird could be a 'bitch'? Wasn't that a female dog?

Nonetheless, they had acquiesced to his command and moved on to the inn. There, they'd booked two rooms, one for the boys and one for the girls, and headed up to sleep.

Well, it was intended to be sleep. Nora had quickly taken to quizzing Wendy and Carla for more stories about Fairy Tail, recounting her and Ren's past in return, scurrying through the Grimm infested countryside and stowing aboard cargo conveys for food. The girls were quickly pulled into the outlandish tales, staying up far later than they should have.

But Ruby could feel Jaune's magic firing off in the courtyard, so it wasn't like they were the only ones doing it.

"We barely made it out of those mountains alive," Nora said. She plopped back on her bed and sighed. "Would have been really nice to be able to turn invisible back then."

"Well, you can do more than turn invisible," Wendy pointed out. "Your magic is Light Refraction. If you can figure out which frequencies you want to reflect and which ones you don't—"

"Frequencies?"

The Sky Dragon Slayer cringed. "Most light contains all colors within it. Our eyes see based on which color within that light is reflected off an object. So by controlling which light gets refracted around you, you _can_ make yourself invisible, but you can do so much more. If you can isolate which frequencies are refracted at any given moment, you can control what everyone around you sees, like the First Master's illusions."

"I could make my enemies' clothes invisible, but keep their bodies not invisible," Nora muttered conspiratorially, a maniac look in her eye. "Let's see them try to fight me when they're naked! Muhahahahaha… oh, but what if they're hot?"

Ruby shrugged. "Think about Ren instead?"

Nora's cheeks immediately went beet-red. "Wha—wha—what?! No! That's just… no. Ren and I aren't like that. We're not together. Well, we're partners, so we're together, but not together-together."

"But you'd like to be."

"Who told you that?!"

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Nora, if _I_ can figure it out, you're not being subtle about it."

The hammer-wielder sat back on her bed, crossed her arms over her chest, and pouted. "Apparently too subtle for him to notice."

"Yes, he does seem to be rather selectively oblivious to your romantic affections," Carla said, slipping into her tiny nightgown. "You could always just tell him outright. He's in the next room."

Nora glanced away, uncharacteristically subdued. "No, that would… we've got a job to do. Ren… he isn't one to distract himself from what needs to be done. It's the only reason we survived long enough to get to Beacon."

"Friends aren't a distraction. They're what gives us the strength to get through these things," Wendy assured her. "And even if he doesn't reciprocate what you feel for him, you'll still be friends, right?"

"This is probably the closest thing we'll get to downtime before we reach Haven," Ruby mentioned, stifling a yawn. "You're not gonna get a better chance."

"Well… maybe I should…" Nora muttered, before leaping to her feet. "I need to brush my teeth!"

She proceeded to dash into the room's attached bathroom, slamming the door behind her. Fortunately, she'd had the presence of mind to moderate her strength, otherwise they'd have to pay for any damage to the door.

The door creaked open and Nora ran out, snatching her bag off her bed. "Forgot my toothbrush."

She rushed back in and a long crack sprouted down the center of the door.

Ruby sighed. "So close."

"Yeah," Wendy said. "She really shouldn't keep her feelings bottled up like that. I know there's a time and place but keeping them bottled up won't help anyone."

"What? Oh yeah, that too," Ruby remarked, trying to hide that she had been referring to their budget. But, given Wendy was talking about romance, might as well see if she'd missed anything good. "So, did any of the obvious guild couples finally get together?"

Carla shrugged. "Some of them. Elfman and Evergreen still argue just as much as ever, but they are going on dates and from what Lisanna and Bixlow have told us from their 'chaperoning', they seem to be going well. Gajeel and Levy have a child on the way—"

"What?!" Ruby squealed, planting herself in the Exceed's face. "Is it a boy or a girl? Did the White Witch affect the pregnancy? Are they alright?"

"Um, most likely," Carla replied. "Her magic was mind control. I doubt it would affect a fetus."

"Oh, well that's good," Ruby said, leaning back on her bed. "So, what about the others? Gray and Juvia? Natsu and Lucy? Erza and Siegrain?"

"Jellal."

"Jellal, right. Are those two actually fiancées now?"

Wendy's cheeks suddenly went bright red, her eyes nervously flickering about. "Um, well, I don't know if they decided on that, but they did spend the night together right before we left for Guiltina."

"Natsu swore they were having a fight without him," Carla facepalmed, shaking her head.

"Really? Would those two things really sound similar?" Ruby said, before shrugging. "What about the others?"

"Gray and Juvia are… something," Wendy muttered. "But Natsu and Lucy are still just friends."

"Darn," Ruby declared. "Yang ain't gonna be happy about that."

"Probably," the Sky Dragon Slayer replied. "Do you think she'll catch up with us soon?"

"I… I don't know," Ruby admitted. "Yang's… well, Yang, but losing her arm… that's a big thing, isn't it? That's not just something you can walk off."

"She seemed alright to me."

"Yeah, that's what worries me," Ruby frowned. "We've been going through town after town, and they're all either struggling to survive or already ruins. At the Fall, Cinder somehow tricked Pyrrha into killing Penny, and Yang lost a part of herself. And Pyrrha's response was to run off to a fight she knew she couldn't win. I don't think Yang… should be alright. The world seems too dark for that."

Wendy hopped over to her and embraced the silver-eyed girl. "The world can be a dark place. It can be horrible and cruel. And Remnant is certainly more treacherous than Earthland was most of the time. But I don't think that means good things can't happen. I wasn't there for most of the Fall of Beacon, but for all the horror that must have gone on there, for all that I don't know where the others are… we are together again. And whatever Salem, or the White Witch, of the Grimm throw at us, together we can make through. Just like Yang will make it through whatever she is going through. Your dad's there to help her after all."

Ruby smiled and returned her friend's hug, squeezing her lithe form tight.

However, for all that a hug was a gesture of companionship and love, it was also a way to hide one's face. And Ruby could not maintain her grin once Wendy could no longer see hers.

It was true that she had been reunited with her friend on Beacon Tower. But if she hadn't hit the sphere with that Fairy Glitter, it was quite likely that she, Pyrrha, and Weiss wouldn't have survived the night. What would have become of Yang if she'd woken up missing both her arm and her sister? What would have become of Jaune, who even now was training to be the best he could be, if he'd lost his partner that night? It was because she had her friends that she was strong. But it had only been luck that her friends had been with her that night.

How long until they didn't get lucky when it counted?

She shook her head and chased such thoughts from her mind. They would not help her. Whatever Yang was dealing with, she'd conquer it and meet them at Haven. Blake would do the same with her powers. They'd get Weiss from Atlas, and all the other members of the strongest team that were on Remnant. They would stop Salem and find a way to get the others back to Fairy Tail.

Their eternal adventure wouldn't become a tragedy.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

Jaune panted hard, taking in as much oxygen and ethernano as he could with each breath. Three golden ankhs hummed before him, their soft glow filling the dark of the night.

It was amazing, the feeling he'd had when he'd first done it. Sure he might not have his semblance yet, but the rush of pure comfort that ran through him when he conjured the first shining symbol, when he'd realized that he'd succeeded at accessing magic, that he was a _wizard_ , it was a euphoria he'd never forget.

But it was short-lived. After all, he, Ren, and Nora weren't as strong as Team RWBY, and from they'd told them about the fight at the tower, Cinder had thrown Ruby around like a rag doll. No matter how good he felt about his progress, he had a long way to go and he wasn't likely to get there with pure power. A lot of his headway at Beacon had come from the fact that his aura was simply unnaturally vast, giving him the raw strength to make good use of the limited training Pyrrha had been able to give him. His origin might have been decent, but it wasn't that large. If he wanted to help his friends, he needed another way.

Fortunately, thinking about his training, about those cool nights on the rooftop, had gotten thinking about Pyrrha. He had… a lot of complicated feelings about what happened at the tower, specifically the kiss and being sent away, but his partner was his partner. She was amazing, as a person and especially as a combatant. She wasn't the strongest like Yang or Nora, or the fastest like Ruby, but whenever any of them had to pick who was the _best_ among the Beacon first-years, or even the school as a whole, she was always the name that came up. She had access to a truckload of raw power with her semblance, but she never needed it. She was careful, cunning, crafty. She could take on entire teams at once because she understood the battlefield and how to make its flow work for her. She guided a foe where she wanted them to go, whittling their strength down bit by bit until she unleashed her final blow.

Wendy had said that his strength might not lie in killing. What if that was what he could do? His shields could protect his friends, support them, but if he used them right, then maybe he could do what Pyrrha did, control the battlefield so his friends could focus on defeating their foes.

But to do that he'd need more than three of them. If he could just manage his ethernano better, create four and then five, and so on, then he'd be able to—

\- get a towel thrown in his face.

He swiped the brown cloth off his face, his ankhs disappearing without his concentration. He spied Ren, stoically staring at him from the edge of the inn's stable.

"You looked like you needed it," he said.

Jaune rolled his eyes but wiped the towel across his sweaty forehead. "Thanks. You should head back in. Get some sleep."

"I'll go in when you do," Ren answered.

"I'll be out here for a while. You need to get to bed."

"So do you."

"I will when I get this right," Jaune told him. "I need to train harder."

"Part of training is knowing when to rest. You'll only burn yourself out if you push too hard," Ren pointed out. He strode over and placed a firm hand on his leader's shoulder. "You need to pace yourself. We have magic. We can learn more about how to use it as we go…"

The green-robed huntsman trailed off; his eyes narrowed.

"What is it?" Jaune inquired. "Do you sense something?"

"Yes." Ren whirled around towards the nearby woods, drawing Stormflower in his hands. "We're being watched."

Jaune drew Crocea Mors, the sword twinkling in the moonlight while his shield covered his teammate. "Show yourself!"

For a moment, there was nothing, the night still at his shout. The only noise was the flutter of distant birds escaping from the treetops.

Then, he spoke, like a rush of warmth carried on his words.

"Put down your weapons. I mean you no harm."

Jaune shared a look with Ren and neither one did so.

"Step into the light," Jaune commanded.

And so, he did, emerging from the shadows like a ghost. He was clothed in a black cloak, hints of a dark vest with orange lining visible underneath. His arms were coated in crimson scales and a pair of curved horns protruded from beneath the hood that hid his face.

"I am unarmed, I assure you," the man said, flailing out his coat to show there was nothing on his belt or up his long sleeves. "I was waiting for my partner to finish his meal in the tavern when I saw that light of yours. That is a wonderful power you have, young huntsman."

"Um, thank you," Jaune replied. He knew people didn't necessarily need a weapon to be dangerous, but he didn't sense any magic from this guy. He could be just suppressing it though. There was no telling if this was a trick to get them to lower their guard. "But, young huntsman? Pardon me, but you don't look that much older than us."

The figure chuckled. "I do look that way, don't I?"

Well, that was cryptic as hell.

"If there something we can help you with, sir?" Ren inquired, Stormflower lowered, but not stowed away. "If you're feeling anxious about Grimm, rest assured, we are more than capable of handling any that might attack."

"Really?" the figure said, more curious than frightened. "Are you sure? There's a Nuckelavee that's been raiding the countryside for years now. Every huntsman that's gone after it… well, there's a reason I stopped in this village. Despite its disdain for people who look like me."

That made Jaune wince, his gaze flickering to the figure's scaled arms and horns. The frontier may have been much friendlier to faunus, but Higanbana's wealth attracted many from the capital who were… less tolerant. The guy was probably used to people pointing weapons at him out of suspicion. The thought was enough to shame the huntsman into finally sheathing Crocea Mors.

He was about to apologize for their distrust when he felt a spark of magic behind him. He glanced back, thinking maybe they'd somehow be flanked, but instead he found Ren's fists clenched tight around Stormflower, cracks of white light leaking onto his pistols.

"Ren," he whispered to his friend, rousing him from his stupor. The green-robed man glanced to his leader before his eyes darted to his weapons. He dissipated his magic before it could do any lasting damage, but it did not calm Jaune's nerves. What had triggered Ren of all people to lose control of his power, even for an instant?

"I assure you," Ren growled, finally stowing his weapons. "If that _monster_ comes here, we will bury it."

The figure tilted his head to the side. "Interesting."

He turned away so that his side was facing the boys and glanced up at the shattered moon, the moonlight revealing a slim smile painted across the lower half of his face.

"Is that your purpose?" he asked. "To destroy the Grimm? To ensure they never hurt another innocent person?"

"We are huntsmen," Ren declared. "That is our duty."

"Well, kind of," Jaune said, at the same time. His teammate turned to him at his answer and raised an eyebrow. "I mean, yeah, a huntsman's job is to kill Grimm when called to, but I wouldn't say it's our 'purpose'."

The cloaked figure's smile fell, though the frown that replaced it didn't seem displeased. More surprised. Like Jaune had said the grass wasn't just green.

"Really?" he muttered. "If I may ask, what do you believe the purpose of a huntsman is?"

"Um… well…" Jaune reached back through his memory, thinking back on all the lessons he'd learned since he'd first set out for Beacon with nothing but his family sword and some fake transcripts.

" _Everyone needs a little push from time to time."_

" _You can't be a failure now. It's not just about you anymore."_

" _What's more important to you? Killing Grimm or protecting people?"_

"A huntsman's purpose is to protect people," he declared. "To shield others, and make sure they can live their lives as if the Grimm weren't there at all."

The figure hummed. "Intriguing. Some would say that not destroying your enemies first makes you weak."

"It doesn't," Jaune said. "The people we care about are what make us strong."

A deep, rich chuckle escaped from under the hood. "You're not wrong. Some of the strongest people I've ever met have drawn strength from their friends. But such bonds, however powerful, must be protected. And if all that considerable energy is spent keeping others safe, what progress can be made on other endeavors?"

"Why would they need to work on anything else? Their purpose is to protect people," Jaune said. "The people they protect, they can work on whatever else needs to be done."

"So, protecting the world is a job for the strong, while building it is left to the weak. That doesn't seem like a way to make a world worth protecting," the figure mused sadly. "Nor does it seem fair to the strong to be left with nothing but strength."

"The bonds we form are their own reward," Jaune answered. "And fair or not, it doesn't make the war we fight any less necessary."

"Wars end. The Grimm do not."

"Well, yeah. But there's nothing we can do about that."

The figure smirked. "You'd think so. Have a good night, young huntsmen. We shall see how your purpose serves you."

With that ominous remark, the cloaked figure departed into the night.

"Well, that was weird," Jaune stated. "Did he ever mention his name?"

"I don't think so," Ren said. "We can ask Qrow if he saw this partner of his at the bar tomorrow."

"Yeah, sure," Jaune turned to his friend. "Hey, are you okay, bud? You seemed pretty freaked when he mentioned that Grimm."

Ren whirled around, marching back towards the inn. "It's nothing. Let's go to bed."

Jaune frowned. A mysterious stranger asking philosophy questions in the dead of night and his stoic teammate acting far more unsettled than he was used to. Yeah, he'd say that was a good enough reason to give training a rest.

He followed after Ren, more sure of who he was and yet far less sure of the world he was fighting for.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

"So, we're not taking them now?" his partner clarified, still chewing on his scaled snack from the tavern. "Why? Just because we found out Raven Branwen is the Spring Maiden? Salem specifically told us to wait on her."

The Ophiuchus rolled his eyes at his petulant partner. He might have stood a head taller than him now with a massive buster sword draped over his back, but he could still be so simple-minded. But, that did come in handy when he needed to play the loud drunk to listen in on the Branwen twins' conversation, especially when he had smelt the vestiges of a maiden's power coming out of the female. He had to give the bandit credit, she smothered her abundant ethernano better than anyone the demon had ever seen, he doubted anyone without his nose would have caught the whiffs of spring in the air. It was no wonder her brother hadn't been able to realize what his sister had become.

"It's not just Branwen," he explained to his partner. "I want to see what the rest of this lot are capable of, test their mettle a bit. We'll still need a couple of candidates after Team RWBY ascends and fighting me is hardly a fair test."

"Salem wants Ruby and Wendy. The others can wait," his partner reminded him. "It's not like you to play fast and loose with her orders."

The Ophiuchus sighed. "Salem is my friend. I am going to help her accomplish her mission. But, she named me the guardian of the Gates not only because of my power, but because she trusts me to make the best call possible. If we take Ruby and Wendy now, we'll have them, but nothing else. If we wait, we'll know where they are and be able to take them at our leisure, along with any other fairies they'll inevitably attract. I already heard Ruby mention that Yang on her way to join up with them."

His partner finished eating and tossed the leftover bones away. "I guess your hearing is spot on. Do you want me to hit them now?"

"No," he said. "No, let them sleep. I want to see them fresh. Though… how fast can you get to Kuroyuri?"

His partner shrugged. "At full speed? A day? Day and a half? Why?"

The Ophiuchus grinned. "A test must be more than physical. And one those young huntsmen had a very interesting reaction when I mentioned the Nuckelavee around there."

"That thing? Ruby and Wendy would kill it in a second."

"Indeed. But that's what you'll be there for."

His partner cocked an eyebrow, his fingers brushing the hilt of his buster sword. A moment later, a wide smirk blossomed across his face.

"Sounds fun."

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

After his encounter at the fishmonger, Sun knew he needed to tell Blake that her parents were now aware they were on the island as soon as she got back from training. He expected a tongue lashing for his carelessness, a frantic rush to move the camp, and maybe an extra reprimand for not getting the trout. Not a conversation he was looking forward to, but one he knew he could handle.

What he did not know if he could handle was the chameleon faunus and Blake's mom walking out the trees towards their campfire. Followed by a six-and-a-half-foot tall wall of bricks disguised as a cat faunus.

"Where is she?" the person he could only assume to be Blake's very, _very_ scary dad demanded, marching into the camp and hefting Sun up by his jacket. "Where is my daughter?"

"Daughter? What daughter?" Sun rambled, his panic talking for him. "I don't know your daughter. I don't even know you! Nice to meet you, I'm Sun Wukong!"

"Don't play games with me!"

"Ghira!" Blake's mom called out (what had the fishmonger called her? Kali?), both men immediately looking to her. "We won't find her by threatening her friend. Let him go."

"I have to advise against that," the chameleon faunus, Ilia said. "He's slippery and he's fast. He could run."

"And we only have his word that he's Blake's _friend_ ," Ghira growled.

Kali sighed. "At least put him down."

The towering panther faunus scowled, but he did set Sun back on his feet. Though, his rather firm grip on the young huntsman's shoulders made it clear that he would not be getting any leeway. It was suddenly very clear where Blake got her 'passionate' responses.

Sun's eyes darted between the three intruders, the campfire's well-fueled flames illuminating the dead of night. He noted the Grimm mask hanging at Ilia's belt but dismissed it rather quickly. Even if she was part of the White Fang, she had brought Blake's parents instead of a squad of goons, so apparently, she really did care about her like she'd claimed.

And, since it was only supposed to be half an hour before Blake came back from training, would it really do any harm if she found friends and family waiting for her? Sun hadn't exactly sought them out, so maybe the encounter would do her some good, undoing a bit of the gloom she submerged herself in every day, show her she wasn't the monster she thought she was.

But no, he couldn't make the choice to talk to her family for her.

"Look, I appreciate that you're all worried about Blake. I would be too in this situation," he said. "But she is in a very delicate place right now, and if she finds you waiting here to ambush her, she is not going to react well. Leave, and I will tell her that you were here and strongly encourage her to talk to—"

"Or you'll tell her nothing to keep her under your thrall," Ghira snarled, his grip getting tighter. "I don't think so, boy. I've watched my daughter get gaslit once, I won't let it happen again."

"I don't know what that means!" Sun protested.

"Listen, Sun, was it?" Kali intervened, placing a calming hand on her husband's arm. "Please try to think about this from our perspective. The only proof we have that our daughter survived the Fall of Beacon is your word and that of Tyrian Callows. The latter is clearly unhinged, and though you seem like a nice boy, we don't know you."

"I was at the Vytal Festival."

"Yes, you fought quite well," Kali complimented, before fixing him with a serious expression. "But that isn't proof that you're Blake's friend. If you know where she is, please tell us, or at least let us wait here until she returns."

"That is not the best plan," Sun replied, glancing at Ghira's hands and Ilia's fingers brushing against her whip. "If you're really set on keeping me in your sights, we should go into the settlement. You guys radiating way too much negativity."

"Our patrols put the nearest Grimm pack at miles away," Ghira dismissed.

"And if any stragglers do show up, we can handle them," Ilia proclaimed, patting her weapon.

At that moment, a hellish shriek ripped across the desert, the fire flickering from the deafening roar. The palm trees trembled as if a great wind had tried to tear them from the ground.

Ghira immediately let go of Sun, pushing Kali behind him and turning out to the open sand. Ilia and Sun fell in on either side of him, all three of them carefully eyeing the ground.

"What was that?" Ghira muttered.

"Not sure," Ilia confessed. "Didn't sound like a Deathstalker."

"No," Sun gulped, Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang shivering in his palms. "We drew her in."

"Her?" Kali piqued.

Any further conversation was cut off when the dunes before them collapsed inward. A giant trench cut across the landscape as sand churned and piled atop it, stampeding towards the camp like a living sandstorm. Just as it reached the site, a towering black blur erupted from beneath the desert.

Take Over: Grimm Soul's Deathstalker form was leaner than the Griffon state Blake had unleashed at Beacon, but no less dangerous. It wasn't bulging with muscle, but much of its body was covered in thick bone armor that could take a blow from Magnhild without cracking. The somewhat cumbersome main body served as a launching platform for the two main pincer arms, the six insectoid appendages beneath them, and, most dangerously, the glowing amber stinger looming over her back. Whatever her face looked like; it was concealed underneath a skull mask with eight sickly yellow eyes.

Sun clapped his hands together, a pair of light clones leaping out from his body and into Blake's path. She smashed through them like a house of cards, but it did give him time to tackle her parents out of the way, Ilia dashing off on her own.

Blake landed amidst the campfire, sweeping the flickering kindling aside, a soft blaze of heat radiating off her tail. A menacing chatter clicked behind her mask, her face looming towards them.

"What in the world…" Kali muttered, eyes wide.

"Super-Grimm…" Ilia murmured, glancing over to Sun in disbelief, horrendous realization dawning over her.

Unfortunately, Ghira wasn't nearly so shocked. Unknown species or not, he had been fighting Grimm long enough to know that you needed to kill them before they got the chance to kill you. And with his wife present, he was in full force protective mode.

"Get Kali out of here!" he commanded, jumping up from under Sun and unknowingly charging his daughter. He crouched low, his feet light and his arms curled, ready to catch the stinger as soon as it lashed out and use his strength to subdue the beast.

However, Blake was much faster than a normal Deathstalker. Her stinger shot out like a bullet, crashing into her father's chest before he could react and slamming him to the ground.

Sun summoned more clones and pushed the downed faunus out of the way, unleashing a volley of dust bullets from his guns, Ilia joining in with rapid lashes of her whip. Blake pulled her pincer arms close to her body, shielding it from the scattered sparks.

"I know you're in there, Blake!" Sun called. "I know you don't want to hurt us! These are your parents! I'm your friend! And I'm pretty sure Ilia is something to you, right?"

"Also friend."

"She is also your fri—agh!"

His desperate speech was cut off when Blake charged forward through their barrage, her pincer arms lancing forward and catching both of them in a vice grip. The claws squeezed tight, their auras crackling under the strain. He and Ilia both gasped for breath as their weapons tumbled from their limp hands.

Fortunately, Ghira chose that moment to return the favor. He ran up behind Blake and squeezed her stinger and her arms into her chest in a tight embrace. He bent over backwards and suplexed his daughter into the sand, forcing her to drop her friends before they popped like grapes.

But it wasn't nearly enough. Blake's form dissipated into a shadow clone and her real form reappeared looming over her father, her stinger primed and ready. Ghira barely had time to gasp before the venomous appendage thrust downward, obliterating a solid chunk of his aura. Sun staggered back to his feet, but the wizard was launching a new attack every second, her father's defense shattered in the blink of an eye.

"Blake!"

All eyes, even Blake's eight, whirled to the shout. Kali Belladonna, doing everything in her power to hide her trembles, looked upon her lost daughter with equal parts love and terror. She gulped but still managed to speak.

"Blake, sweetie, is that really you—"

Too late. The pseudo-Deathstalker's attention may have been diverted, but whatever message the elder cat faunus had been about to deliver did not come fast enough to stall its rampage, not with so much negativity in the air. Blake appeared at her mother's side and her tail struck her like a thunderbolt.

Kali soared into a palm tree, a loud _smack_ echoing out from the impact. But unlike the others, her combat experience was insufficient, and her aura crumbled away completely, her right arm clutched to her side, likely broken. And Blake already had a pincer reared back for a follow-up strike.

Sun dashed forward, pushing all his battered strength into his feet and ordering his remaining clones to attack for however much time they could buy. Ilia leapt at Blake's back with her whip but was swiftly put down by the stinger's superior reach and power.

In all, they delayed maybe a second, enough for Sun to charge at the side of Blake's mask, his nunchucks spinning rapidly to build up as much power as possible. Even as he did, he hoped for a miracle. Despite his admission to his friend, he'd never stopped doing the breathing exercises she'd taught him, never stopped attempting to take in ethernano. Intellectually, he knew it was stupid, that magic simply wasn't something he could do.

But Neptune had always been the intellectual one. He thought with his gut, acted with his gut. And it was with his gut, his will, and with every ounce of his gumption, that he prayed for a miracle, for some spark of magic to help him protect someone who did not deserve to die at the hands of someone who did not want to kill her.

However, nothing came. No spark appeared to light his darkest night. His nunchuck sailed towards Blake unaided and he soon found himself shoulder checked, cast aside and unable to help as his friend prepared to strike down her own mother.

"No!" Ilia screamed.

"Kali!" Ghira roared, already running despite his lack of aura.

But none of them would get there fast enough.

Blake's pincer streaked for Kali's neck, soon to be dyed in her blood.

" **Sand Buster!** "

A typhoon of sand erupted from the darkness, its thunderous gale sweeping across the clearing and ramming into Blake's side. She quickly escaped the assault with a shadow clone, but the swirling wind surrounding the blast still threw her into the open desert. Sun and the others were also struck by the byproduct, blow away from the dead remnants of the campfire.

And out of the dead of night, a slow, oddly cheerful clapping emanated from the darkness, a pair of gleeful yellow eyes glowing amidst the tree line, a scorpion tail rising behind them.

"Well, well, well. What felicity! What fortune! Truly, destiny smiles on our Queen's will, doesn't it, Lady Blake?"

The scorpion faunus, who Sun could only assume to be the Tyrian Callows the others were so scared of, merrily strolled across the wrecked campsite, a serene smile plastered across his face.

Blake lowered herself into a fighting crouch, but did not charge, threatening chitters clicking from behind her mask.

That alone frightened Sun. When in Grimm form, Blake had not hesitated to attack anything previously, even Yang and Adam Taurus. She'd just taken down her father, him, and Ilia while running on pure negativity hunting instinct. Now, those same instincts had her cowering before this new combatant.

How powerful was he to merit such caution?

"Still caught within Seram's madness, I see," Tyrian noted with a sigh. He quickly recovered his spirits however, his tongue flicking over his lips. "No matter. The Queen is with you in your curse, my lady. She will aid you from within. Whereas I shall aid you from without."

The scorpion faunus threw off his brown overcoat and slotted out a pair of pincer blades on each wrist. He let out a bone-chilling laugh and leapt towards Blake, who let out a ferocious shriek and charged him right back, both their stingers streaking forward for the first strike.

Despite having been saved from certain doom, Sun couldn't help but think that no matter who won this battle, they were in deep, _deep_ trouble.

* * *

 **Huh. I just gave Tyrian a Big Damn Heroes moment... I'm not sure how to feel about that.**

 **Regardless, the Albains' scheming seems to have backfired, with their alerting Tyrian leading to him arriving just in the nick of time. Where things will go from here, who can say?**

 **Meanwhile, in the past, Ruby and Weiss bond with Mira and hear tell of the great mysterious hero Fairy Woman. And in the present, Jaune and Ren meet the Ophiuchus doing a Yoda impression. I loved being able to quote his first sequence with Luke on Dagobah. Just a lot of fun, as well as being able to show Jaune's work ethic doesn't disappear just because he doesn't have the trauma of Pyrrha's death, plus his bond with Ren.**

 **And the Ophiuchus sends his partner to prepare an exam for our heroes. With any luck, they'll do better I am on mine.**

 **An extra huge thank you to my patrons: ArcherMcMuffin, Gregg Tracton, Keith Traction, Annaya Chan, Nora Okonus, Paula mandel, KefkaesqueXIII, Christian Howard, and SanyaBane.**

 **Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!**

 **Go Forth and Conquer!**


	25. Chapter 24

**So, finals are over, I'm still alive, break has begun. Quite the time.**

 **IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT! So, upon returning from college I learned that my family actually really missed me, and given the holidays have planned a great many family gatherings and events. As such, I will not have the time to write and publish a chapter of this story for next week. You have my deepest apologies, but I hope that you all can forgive me at this wonderful time of the year.**

 **Next, xenosaiyan did not have time to look over this chapter as beta this week, but that is in part because he was busy doing me the tremendous favor of writing one of the sections of this chapter, specifically the Ace Ops one. I could not be more thankful for his help on this as it proved a godsend when I was already struggling to get this chapter written between finals, coming home, and this week's family affairs. I gave him an outline of what I needed to happen and he added his own wonderful flare to it. So for this chapter, consider his credit, co-writer.**

 **If you wish to support me and my college tuition, please check out my P a treon for future chapter summaries, story ideas and more: p a Treon.(c om) (backslash) themaster4444**

* * *

Tyrian cackled as the desert winds rushed across his body, ducking to the side just as Lady Blake's stinger smashed through where his head had been only a moment before, wrenching a cloud of sand into the air and cleaving a dozen palm trees in two on the backswing. Her Grimm form chittered incessantly as its pinchers lunged forward in a rabid follow-up attack. He swiftly brought his own tail about to swat the claws off course, opening the way for him to rush in with his blades. The steel made contact, but only glanced off her armor, whatever damage he might have dealt negated when the pseudo-Deathstalker disappeared into smog, reappearing a few steps back none the worse for wear.

This, this was what he lived for, what he'd joined the White Fang for, what he'd bowed to his goddess for. This battle and blood, the racing thrum of his heart as he danced through the battlefield, ready to watch that crimson life flow from his foes! He, Tyrian Callows, was a man, or rather a monster, of combat and killing. Whatever path he went down that led him to such carnage was a life well worth living.

But there was difference between what a person wants to do and what a person needed to do, and only an utterly pathetic whelp (Cinder) put the former before the latter. While Tyrian would like nothing more than to pull Lady Blake apart piece by piece like pulling the wings off a fly, Salem had ordered him to bring her back to the Grimmlands alive. As such, it was his sacred and solemn duty not to disappoint the Queen.

A simple matter really. Though Lady Blake did have a slight edge in speed and strength over his current state, he was hardly out of options. Though, using his Etherious Form carried too much of a risk of overdoing matters and accidentally killing her, especially since he knew the Queen would be speaking in her mind through the connection between them forged by Seram's curse.

That didn't mean he could have a little fun though.

"Come, my lady, feel the hatred!" he laughed, dipping around a whip of her tail to score a slice with his own stinger, another shadow clone taking the hit. "You can't run away forever! Every clone you create leaves you with less and less aura! You cannot win if you only make yourself weaker! You must act, give into the strength within you! The Queen's guidance will see you through!"

"Stop ranting at her and fight!" Ilia shouted from the grove, both her and Ghira helping Kali to her feet.

Tyrian resisted the urge to roll his eyes only because he had to leap back from a thrust of Lady Blake's pincers. Really, he'd been able to guess the Albains' game without too much difficulty, but the fact that the Belladonnas were here without alerting him meant there was a grain of truth to their manipulations. That was a matter to be dealt with later, as would the blond monkey faunus who'd apparently be serving as Lady Blake's companion.

He leapt back, crouching down on all fours and skittering away from the palm grove. He'd need room for his next move, his stinger dipping into the sand, a soft orange glow illuminating the area it touched.

Lady Blake rushed towards him, pinchers outstretched, but it was already too late. A flick of his stinger and his magic was cast.

" **Sand Wall!** "

The desert rose at his command, a bastion of sand erupting up into the night sky, taller than the trees. The technique was primarily a defensive one, excellent at keeping an enemy's attacks at bay, but when summoned from beneath a foe, it could inflict substantial damage, each grain cutting flesh like thousands of tiny daggers. And given their size, they would have no issue finding the chinks in the Deathstalker form's armor.

Lady Blake shrieked in agony, the desert's spawn digging into the soft skin underneath her arachnid defense. An instant after the scream pierced the night sky, her form evaporated, another shadow clone slain. She reappeared just past the wall, her pinchers reaching for his head.

She'd never reach him.

With a gleeful grin, Tyrian snapped his figures and unleashed his curse.

All at once, the entire wall of sand glowed a blazing orange and exploded, a thunderous shockwave screeching across the desert. Ghira and the monkey faunus stood in front of Kali to protect her from the blast while the lighter Ilia was sent flying into a palm tree.

Lady Blake was taken completely off-guard. The flames and force slammed into her from behind and sent her soaring over Tyrian's shoulder, smacking into the desert floor and skidding across the dunes. Her purple aura crackled with weakness as she staggered to her feet.

Tyrian chuckled as he turned to face her. Yes, Lady Blake had a slight edge in physical abilities as they were. But on terrain that favored him so, with his arsenal as diverse as it was? She stood no chance. His Sand Drill would be able to pierce even her strongest armor and his sand with his bomb curse would prevent her from escaping even with her shadow clones. Perhaps if she had her mind, she could think of something, some trick or strategy to gain a momentary advantage. But as she was now? A craven beast, with only instinct and wrath that was not even her own to guide her? She was no threat to him.

He'd just beat her down until her magic ran out and she transformed back, or the Queen was able to guide her into regaining her senses.

Until then, it just meant he got to play with her a little more.

He cackled with utter joy. Oh, it was good to do his goddess' work. For in her arms there was never a dull day. Only sweet, _sweet_ carnage!

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

 **Kill the humans! Kill the betrayers! Cull them! Cull them with the wrath of our lord!**

 **DeSTroY**

 **dEsTRoy**

 **DESTROY!**

 _Blake! Listen to me! You have to hear!_

"I can't. I can't breathe. There's only darkness. A sea of darkness. A sea of _kill_."

 **kILl!**

 **KiLl!**

 **KilL!**

 **KILL THE PRINCESS OF THE STARS!**

 _ **ENOUGH!**_

 _It is hatred. It is wrath. An instinct cursed upon the umbral by a spiteful god. But it is not a sea. Not if you don't let it drown you._

"I… I can't. It's too much. It's too much!"

 _Only if you let it be! Your stronger than Seram's petty will, Blake, just as I am. You are not drowning in an ocean. It is merely a different kind of air. Breathe!_

"… Breathe… but… to _kill_ …"

 **CULL!**

 **DestrOy!**

 **DESTROY!**

 _If you do not breathe, then you will suffocate! Take it all in, Blake! Let the hate and anger flow through you! Let it fuel you! Become the power! Guide it towards our enemies before it consumes you!_

"…Breathe… breathe in the darkness… become the hate… hate… no, I… I won't…"

 _You must. You cannot fight it, not alone._

"Alone… I'm… I'm not… alone…"

 _You are. But not for long. My ally is there. He will bring you to me, and we can destroy our enemies together. We will bring together a new Fairy Tail and save the world._

"To you… who are you?"

 **SALEM!**

 **KiLl Salem!**

 **KILL the fallen princess of the stars!**

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

Sun held no illusions that he was the strongest fighter in the world. Sure, he was good, one of the best at Haven, but that was a small pond compared to the rest of the world and even the small glimpses he'd gotten of that great ocean made it clear there were warriors leagues better than him. Pyrrha, Yang, Nora, even Ruby had all possessed a natural skill at battle that he knew for certain he'd never be able to match no matter how hard he trained. Ever since he'd seen them in action, he'd thought for sure that they would be the best, as soon as they climbed to that mythic level of training official huntsmen had endured.

Then he saw Tyrian Callows in action.

He was brutal, vicious. And yet, calculating. Every move was efficient, designed to inflict the most pain possible with each exchange, always leaving Blake scrambling to escape via shadow clone. And even that could only do so much, the surrounding sand exploding in flashes of heat and force, each one either forcing an additional clone or smacking the Take Over wizard with even more damage.

This was the monstrous form that had mangled Adam Taurus and maimed Yang. And the scorpion faunus was beating her down while laughing. What was he?

A question for later. Especially when Sun noticed a familiar black smoke emanating off of Blake's body. A sign that her form was about to desist.

And Tyrian's stinger was already streaking towards her Deathstalker self's chest, which was exactly where her head would be when the transformation ended.

"Stop!" he screamed, praying that the madman really did want Blake alive.

Fortunately, it seemed he did. The Grimm form vanished into smoke, only Blake's auraless form left behind. Tyrian's eyes widened for a brief instant and peeled off his tail only a moment before he would have carved out Blake's throat.

Unfortunately, momentum was a cruel mistress and he couldn't stop his charge completely. Even as he scrambled to move his tail away, his stinger scored a thin slice down Blake's side.

"Ah!" she howled, dropping to her knees. Sun jumped to his feet and dashed over to her, barreling past the scorpion faunus who could have killed him in the blink of an eye.

But Tyrian was hardly focused on him. He was reeling back, his hands pinned to either side of his face and blanket terror running through his eyes. "My lady! I didn't… I didn't mean… she'll forgive you… she'll forgive you…"

Well, that was ominous. But Sun had more important things to worry about at the moment.

He fell to his knees and helped Blake regain her balance. "Are you okay?"

Only for her to shove him away, tears in her eyes. "Why did you bring them here?! Why would you ever bring them here!? You promised! You _promised_!"

"It's not his fault!"

Both Sun and Blake's gazes whirled around to Ilia, Kali, and Ghira, all of whom were slowly approaching. The chameleon faunus shuffled nervously as the Belladonnas took the lead. "He did everything he could to keep us away, but I didn't believe him. I didn't think what he said about… magic, could be true."

"Blake," Kali said slowly, as if addressing a frightened cat. She clutched her right arm to her side as her husband helped her limp across the sand. The fervent anger and worry from earlier had disappeared from both her and Ghira's faces, both coming to tower above their daughter, tears welling in their eyes.

However, Blake's amber eyes could only see her mother's broken arm. She crawled backward, her muscles bunching in preparation to flee. Sun prepared to catch her, to reinforce her resolve as he had on Patch.

But, before he could, all the tension left Blake's form. She collapsed to her knees, her head hung in complete submission, her eyes blank. Slowly but surely, tears began to flow down from her face, dripping darkness into the sand below.

"I'm sorry," she whimpered. "I remember. I remember everything, but I couldn't control it, not until the end. I wanted to keep you safe, but I… I… I am so sorry—"

"My baby girl."

Blake raised her head in shock, only for Kali to fall to her knees and engulf her in an embrace. Half a second later, and Ghira had done the same, taking his entire family in his arms.

"You… how…" Blake muttered. "I betrayed you. I called you cowards. I nearly killed you! How can you possibly forgive me? How could you still—"

"Because you are our daughter," Ghira firmly declared.

Blake was stunned speechless. Whatever walls she still had in place collapsed instantly as she leaned against her parents and broke down into sobs.

Sun smirked at the three cat faunus, Ilia showing similar joy at the scene. True, there had been far more near-death than any of them would have preferred, but in the end, the Belladonna family was reunited. And with the knowledge that her parents did not think of her as a monster, perhaps Blake might be able to gain some new insight into her abilities.

"Aw, how touching."

Everyone turned to the strangely sincere, but still unsettling voice. Blake's tear-stained eyes shifted from sorrowful relief to utter confusion. "Who are you?"

"Tyrian Callows, my lady," the scorpion faunus bowed, his wet cheeks the only evidence of his own breakdown. "I am truly grateful to see that the Queen's words have aided you."

"Queen?" Blake eyes widened in horror. "Salem!"

Sun shot to his feet, drawing his gunchucks once more. In hindsight, it made perfect sense. His power, his knowledge of magic, his complete nonreaction to seeing Blake transform, it all fit if this guy worked for the same creep that Cinder had. Was he one of her Gates that Qrow and Taiyang were so terrified of? If so, what could they possibly do to stop him?

A joyous smile split Tyrian's face from ear to ear. "Oh, wonderful, you know her true name. She had been worried that her old, cursed name would have to be spoken for you to come."

"She's not coming with you!" Ilia protested, her whip crackling with electricity even as her legs trembled with terror.

"Well, obviously not right now," Tyrian rolled his eyes. "It would hardly be safe to travel with my venom coursing through her veins."

"Venom?" Kali muttered.

The Belladonnas pulled back from their hug, Blake tracing a line down the final cut she'd received in the fight. A sickly purple puss was already oozing from the wound.

Ghira whirled on Tyrian and snarled. "If she dies…"

"Then I will have failed my goddess, I know! It is a horror beyond nightmare!" the scorpion squealed, panic dominating his voice once more. He quickly got himself back under control but even still he was visibly panting. "But it is fine, it is fine. A skilled enough doctor can cure my poison and my knowledge of its antidote will only aid the process. She will not die. She will not die! A few days rest, and she'll be well enough to travel to the Grimmlands. Everything will be fine! Haha! Now, let's be on our way to the settlement, we mustn't delay. Hahahahahahahaha!"

Tyrian wheeled away, cackling into the night. Sun turned back to Blake and met her eyes, both of them unsure.

They had survived the night, but the war they had been training for had come for them. And it was plainly clear that they were not prepared in any way, shape, or form.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

"So, is everything ready?"

"As it can be. The Tremaines are in position and the grunts have made sure the civilians are evacuated," Gray nodded, marching into the warehouse in a SDC foreman's uniform. "How are you?"

Weiss rose to her feet with a flourish, dismissing the summoning glyph she'd been practicing with. The Arma Gigas she'd called disappeared as she sheathed Myrtenaster at her side.

Tonight was it. Months of chasing down leads and sifting through intelligence, and tonight was the night where it all paid off. They knew exactly what the White Fang was planning, and though they hadn't been able to track down their high outs, they had laid the perfect trap. By the end of tonight, Adam Taurus would face justice for his crimes, for all those who'd died in the Breach and the Fall.

And after that, Salem would be next.

"Ready for some action," she smiled, taking in a deep breath of ethernano. "I've never been one to enjoy a fight as much as most of the guild, but I have to admit that all these months cooped up have left me rather peckish."

Gray chuckled. "You've got your tape on? Probably wouldn't be great if 'Weiss Schnee, Hero of Atlas' made her first televised appearance half-naked."

Weiss patted her dress with a smirk. "Might be worth it just to see father's face. Though, I suppose I'll be getting that one way or another after tonight."

Indeed, she had discussed that aspect of the plan extensively with COMMAND ESR and Eleanor. Atlas Intelligence was more than willing to provide agents on the ground to protect civilians and even have the Tremaines present as backup, they made it clear that they wanted this to be Weiss' victory. They recruited the Fairy Tail wizards to serve as one-person armies and her in particular to be the public face of the operation and they expected them to hold up their end of the bargain. The ice wizards would be the stars of the night and the media circus that would inevitably come afterward.

Which was perfectly fine with her. After tonight, father would never be able to disinherit her.

Weiss glanced over Gray, whose stolen uniform did nothing to hide his sculpted figure. She couldn't do much to hide the pleased smile that spread over her face. For all that she had seen him bare-chested, there was a special appeal to his clothed handsome figure.

At least until she saw him shifting uncomfortably under her gaze, at which point she promptly averted it.

"I'm sorry," she hastily apologized. "I shouldn't have—"

"No, no, it's alright," he assured her. "It's just… it's not important."

"No," Weiss said. "Not if you're uncomfortable."

"We're about to go into a firefight."

"Even more of a reason to have everything we can sorted out." Weiss walked up to her guildmate and leaned against a crate of dust. "I'm not blind, Gray. Stuff that wouldn't have made you blink back on Earthland has you squirming. And I can't help you if I don't know what's going on."

"It's… it's a long story," Gray sighed. "You remember when I told you about the Alvarez War and what happened after? I may have left out some details."

Weiss was instantly worried. She'd gotten a taste of war at Beacon, and the conflict with the Alvarez had been even more destructive from everything she'd been told. There was no telling what mental scarring her teacher had endured, what humiliation he'd sought to keep hidden. And given what he'd already told her about his and Natsu's brief falling out, it couldn't possibly be anything less than world-shattering—

"I was sort of thinking about starting a relationship with Juvia."

…

"Oh…" Weiss muttered. "That's… um, congratulations?"

"No, that's where the 'sort of' comes in," Gray awkwardly revealed. "During the war with Alvarez, she was injured because of my weakness. I thought she was dead for a while and that… well…"

"Puts things in perspective?"

The Ice Make wizard chuckled. "Pretty much. The year after the war and then into the Hundred-Year Quest, I just didn't know what to say. I mean I gave her nothing for so long, how could I just turn around and say I wanted a relationship? When I couldn't even protect her?"

Weiss frowned. "Juvia is a lot of things, but she isn't some doll that you need to protect. She'd want to fight beside you just as much."

"Don't I know it," Gray smiled. "She supports me with everything she has. But I haven't always done the same. But, during the quest, there was this guild of people who looked just like everyone in the guild, and I got talking with the woman who looked like her, Juvina."

"What?"

"Best not to think about it too hard. Erza's double was an actress and they switched places for a show. We couldn't get out of town fast enough. The point is, Juvina helped me sort out my feelings for Juvia and I was planning to ask her out when we next saw each other…"

"But then the White Witch brainwashed everyone, and you ended up here," Weiss finished.

Gray nodded. "I didn't even see each her when everyone else was attacking us. Not sure if I should be glad about that or not. But now I'm here, and even though we haven't made a commitment to each other, I don't want to betray her."

Weiss understood his feelings. Fairy Tail was big on loyalty. Just the fact that Gray intended to begin a relationship with Juvia was enough to set his mind on respecting that possible connection. And spending so much time with her undressed, or dancing with Neon, left him feeling a tad unnerved in a way he had never been before when the side effects of his magic were involved. He was a good man who wanted to do right by the person he was falling for.

Though, despite herself and her love for both her friends, she couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy towards them.

She placed a firm comforting hand on Gray's shoulder. "You would never betray her. You know that. I know that. And wherever she is on Earthland, Juvia knows that too. Whatever you 'failed' to do before, you won't let happen it again."

Gray scowled. "I nearly got her killed and then tried to kill Natsu over it."

"Then you _really_ won't let it happen again," Weiss declared. "You're a good man, Gray. So stop beating yourself up and _be_ one."

That prompted a smirk out of the ice wizard. "Don't die for your friends."

"Live for them," Weiss completed, grinning herself. "That's Erza's saying, right?"

"Eh, it's pretty much become a guild saying by this point," Gray said. He then stepped forward and pulled Weiss into a tight hug. "Thanks."

The heiress fought back her blush and returned her guildmate's purely _platonic_ gesture. "Of course. Though I would like to point out that this is exactly the sort of thing that would result in her plotting my imminent demise."

Gray giggled. "Yeah. Probably. She's quirky like that."

Weiss smirked. "Yeah. Yeah, she is."

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

Clover blocked a sword strike, gritting his teeth even as he spun around and kicked a different White Fang grunt right in the jaw before blindly tossing out the hook of his weapon, Kingfisher, into the crowd of White Fang and pulling.

The hook somehow snatched onto the scruff of one of the White Fang members' jackets, dragging the poor grunt towards the Ace Operative. On the way, the faunus tanked two different dust bullets and a sword strike meant for Clover himself, going on to smash into two different operatives that were aiming for his comrades with rifles.

Lucky Clover.

Vine was abusing the hell out of his Semblance, grabbing and throwing around White Fang members like ragdolls while simultaneously using them to defend against dust rounds. He was the crowd control, making sure to defeat any White Fang member that approached Professor Pietro. The bastards may have somehow gotten into the lab's docking bay, but they wouldn't get any farther.

Harriet was blitzing all over the place, at times running up the walls and kicking off the ceiling just to get more momentum when she inevitable clocked them across the face. Twenty rapid-fire punches were more than enough to break through even the toughest of their enemies, and from how she was abusing her own Semblance, Clover could tell she was doing that many in a single second.

Marrow was fighting hand to hand, his boomerang-like sword soaring through the air and ripping into the grunts. The moment it came back to his hands it was off again, flung so smoothly that only the most experienced fighters would be able to use that momentary opening to launch a counter.

It only took a few minutes of chaotic fighting before all of the White Fang members were lying on the ground, either out cold or groaning in pain.

Marrow caught his sword and smoothly sheathed it before turning around with fire in his eyes. "Okay, what the _hell_ was that?! How did the White Fang break into here?"

"I agree with the idiot," Harriet commented. "It shouldn't have been possible for the Fang to hit the convoy at all, much less here. This place is chock full of self-defense mechanisms, only Taurus should have even had a chance at breaking through. Even then, it would have caused at least _some_ aura loss. And these cannon fodder got in? Nah, the chances are so fucking low that they would need, like, five different Clovers to get this many people in."

"Harriet speaks wisely, if coarsely." Vine agreed. "Even if our opponents had a similar ability to yours, Clover, they wouldn't be able to sneak in here without some detection."

"That's because they didn't." Professor Pietro revealed, wiping nervous sweat off his brow even as he fiddled with some electronic attached to his 'wheelchair'. "This shows that the access code to the lab docking bay was inputted fifteen minutes ago, only four minutes before the White Fang stormed in. They must have somehow gotten the code."

Clover frowned. "Even if that's so, why isn't Adam Taurus here? He's the best fighter they've got, and he sits out something this big? It doesn't make sense. Why would he not be here?"

"Unless he is," Vine commented morosely. "And these grunts were just a distraction."

"The likelihood of that seems pretty low, Vine." Marrow interjected.

"But not zero." He argued back. "We must secure the convoy and the base." His statement wasn't without worry, and for good reason. If the White Fang got their hands on Atlas's confidential military technology, their threat level would jump up by leagues.

"Professor Pietro, is there anything on the security camera?" Clover asked.

The man fiddled with his computer for less than a second before scowling. "Nothing. They're all offline. The sensors say the lab is still secure, but without visual confirmation…"

Clover nodded. "Professor, please hide in the designated safe room. We'll check this out."

"Yo, wait." Marrow interjected, his expression twisted in worry. "Sure, safety rooms are all good and all, but this is _Adam Taurus_ we're talking about here. He isn't going to give up in front of something as small as steel or whatever."

Pietro gave a small laugh at Marrow's concern before nodding seriously towards Clover. His 'wheelchair' walked itself over to a tile that didn't seem out of place to the others near it. His hands blurred over his keyboard, entering some confidential password that Clover bet that even Ironwood wouldn't have known.

The steel walls _unfurled_ in front of the Ace-Ops, two halves of what seemed to be a highly advanced capsule bursting out of nowhere and slammed together, enveloping the professor. Green light, lasers, Clover would later realize, burned out of the small slit between the two capsule halves, immediately welding it together. Then, before any of the Ace-Ops could react, the tile that the Professor had stood upon broke apart, sending cement in every direction.

Marrow scrambled in panic to the hole in the ground and poked his head through the floor, watching in awe as the bunker the Professor dropped for nearly a hundred meters before landing onto a hidden water slide and slipped away with celerity. In less than three seconds he couldn't even spot the capsule, even with his faunus eyes letting him see in the darkness of the… _whatever_ the Professor had escaped into.

"... What the _hell?!_ " Marrow gaped.

"Marrow, get _back_!" Clover shouted, even as Marrow's instincts screamed at him. He jumped back out, stumbling back even as a gleaming machine in the room shot out another tile. The tile landed perfectly where the other had broken apart, even as a completely different machine shot out lasers and welded it to the floor. Other than a slight burning smell, there wasn't a single difference in the room from before the Professor escaped to after.

If Marrow had dodged back even a half-second later the tile would have hit him into the same hundred-meter drop, only he suspected that he would have fallen to his death instead of landing onto the slide.

How lucky.

Clover chuckled at the stunned look on the normally ever calm Vine, to say nothing about the rest of his team.

"That's why Atlas science is the greatest on Remnant." The leader said. "And why you don't fuck with this kingdom's scientists. Scarier than any terrorist group will ever be."

He shook his head and started exiting the room. "Harriet, meet up with Elm at the rear of the convoy. Make sure there aren't any more surprises back there. Vine, Marrow, with me in the lab. This was a distraction. Now we just need to figure out what Taurus is really after."

It only took a few seconds before Clover heard their footsteps following him.

Say what you want about the silliness of the Ace Ops at times. No one can doubt their professionalism.

However, they were hunting out Adam Taurus, the most powerful fighter of the White Fang and was at least as good as them, if not more. His reflexes were well reknown, and he didn't hesitate to use even the most unconventional fighting techniques in order to kill. In light of this, it made sense how tense each member of the team was.

Which is the reason why it's so remarkable that none of them reacted to the black smoke that gently floated in the air, passing by them and drifting into the lab proper as soon as Clover opened the triple encrypted entrance. No, it wasn't simply the Ace Ops not reacting to it, but rather it was the entire team not _noticing_ the wisps in the first place. Considering how experienced they all were, it was practically unbelievable.

It was a good thing, however. After all, if any of them had noticed it… they would all have died.

How lucky.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

Adam Taurus smirked as the gates of the SDC Surplus Complex swung wide open. Keyes' codes were right on the money. His squadron of bullheads flew right in and landed as easily as they had during the Fall of Beacon, not an ounce of resistance in sight. It seemed despite the Specialist escort given to the convoy, Jacques Schnee had decided losing his largest domestic contract was a risk he could not take, at least with the dust embargo still ongoing.

That was fine by him. However disastrous his association with Cinder Fall had been, he had learned from the human bitch. Primarily that if one planned a revolution, they needed to provide enough ammunition to last until the war was over. Torchwick may have been a wretched piece of self-centered filth, but he had been good at his job. His men in Vale had never been better supplied than when they were drawing from his stock.

However, Atlas was not Vale, and he would not be able to perform a rash of dust robberies without the military becoming directly involved, something they could ill afford without support from Sienna. But, since all of the SDC's exports to the other kingdoms could not leave the borders, they'd all been consolidated at a single massive warehouse complex. Which meant it was ripe for the taking in a single, brutal strike, especially since their diversion had sent word that they'd engaged the Ace Ops at the Polendina Convoy.

With any luck, they'd take at least one of the Specialists with them to the grave.

In the meantime, Adam's force would slaughter the guards on the way out.

"Get those containers hooked up!" he commanded, his men swarming out of their ships. Dozens of brave faunus in Grimm masks dashed amidst the quarter-mile of cargo ship containers, each one holding millions of lien worth of dust. Just beyond the courtyard of holding were dozens of warehouses, each one in turn holding scores of containers. And soon all of it would be there's. Fuel for their crusade on humanity.

"Sir!" a soldier called, running up to him as his fellows began hooking cables up to their bounty. "Sir, we haven't received any word from the others."

"The Convoy group was ordered to go radio silent when they attacked," Adam replied, most of the men not aware that the other group's survival was not expected. He marched over to the nearest warehouse and began typing in another of Keyes' codes. "No word from them is expected."

"I'm not talking about them, sir," the man continued. "I meant the team we sent to take care of the security towers. We might have the codes, but they still have guards—"

"I am aware of the plans, brother. I made them," Adam growled, smashing in the last digit as the machine hummed with acceptance. Even still, the soldier had a point. The other squad should have checked in already. "Send a team to check on them. We can't afford to be sloppy in an operation this crucial—"

He leapt back as the door to the warehouse rose, spotting the attack just before it struck. His man was not so lucky, a white phantasmal sword sweeping down and sending him flying into the cargo containers, a resounding crack indicating his aura had not been enough to protect him.

Adam snarled and drew Wilt from Blush, the rest of his men dropping their cables and drawing their guns. It seemed they were not as unexpected as they'd hoped.

The Arma Gigas marched out of the warehouse first, its towering armored form and gigantic blade drawing just as much awe from the faunus ranks as dread. Striding out beside it was a black-haired human in a SDC foreman's uniform, though the way he carried himself and the hard look in his dark-blue eyes communicated clearly that this was no mere factory worker. This was a warrior, a veteran of many battles. Probably some huntsman, reliant on his semblance if his lack of weapons and the frost growing on his hands were anything to go by. He could be trouble.

Of course, all thought of tactics or strategy fled Adam's mind the moment he saw _her_.

She strode out from underneath the Arma Gigas, her pet, sterling hair against a deep blue dress, a demonic beast with the face of an angel, marred only by the single scar across her left eye. She held her rapier aloft like a wand, a full complement of dust visible within its chambers, its silver point aimed straight at him.

"Adam Taurus! In the name of the Kingdom of Atlas, you are under arrest!" Weiss Schnee proclaimed with a smirk. "I suggest you come quietly."

This was the monster he had been born to slay, the devil that he, the savior of the faunus, would bring to justice. This great victory would be the spark that would reignite his smothered flame to greater heights than even the Fall of Beacon had. His branded eye burned with fury, sensing its vengeance was close at hand.

"Kill them!" he roared, swinging his crimson blade for his foe's head. Her abomination met his strike with its ghostly sword, a vicious force reverberating through his body. His men opened fire and the humans countered with a wave of pink and black ice, the dust rounds splattering against the frozen wall.

It would be a grueling trial. Many of his men would likely die. But by the end of it all, they would emerge triumphant.

And most importantly, the Schnee would be dead.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

"You sure about this? Adam will kill us if he finds out."

"He's going to get us killed anyway! Those two huntsmen just shot a mountain of ice out of their bare hands! No amount of dust is going to mean two shits unless we blew it all up in their faces!"

"So? We can just do that—"

"We're staying three feet from them!"

"Oh, right. Explosions don't discriminate."

"Exactly!"

Stiles the fox faunus had been born with nothing but his fluffy tail and his sarcasm. Not the best defense when one was growing up in the underbelly of Mantle, even with his best friend Scott the wolf faunus' abnormally large teeth. Didn't help that Scotty himself was more a puppy dog than an alpha. A great guy, but way too much of a bleeding heart for his own good. When they had both joined the White Fang, Scotty had done so out of some obligation to help people or something. Stiles just wanted some food on his table… and a table to put the food on would be nice too.

But then Adam Taurus had showed up and started kidnapping random SDC guards and torturing them to death. And that just offended Scott's noble sensibilities just a tad too much. Stiles wasn't too against doing what they needed to do to survive, but he didn't think any of the working-class Mantle commuters were responsible for the faunus' shit lot in life.

Weiss Schnee might have, but she had a giant armored Grimm on her side. Stiles made it his policy in life to avoid antagonizing those.

"Look, just a bit more and we're home free," he said, guiding Scott and the rest of their two dozen or so band of deserters through the maze of cargo containers. "Adam will be in prison by the end of the night, and we can slip back into Mantle unnoticed."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that."

The chilling voice stopped Stiles cold. Every faunus in his group gazed up at the top of the nearby cargo containers and began to tremble, the recognizable gray uniform identifying their adversary as Atlas Intelligence. And the fact the older woman was wearing it at all meant that they didn't care about being subtle.

"You guys run!" Scott commanded, throwing a protective arm in front of Stiles. "I'll hold her off as long as I can!"

Stiles was touched by Scott's declaration, but he didn't think it would matter.

Orange flames surged off the woman, instantly forming into a ten-foot flaming cat. Its light blazed down on the deserters, elongating their shadows across the ground.

"Lucifer," the woman said. "Pounce."

The fire cat growled and swarmed over them as if they'd fallen into the bowels of hell, the asphalt around them charred black as the metal containers melted under the feline's claws. The deserters emptied a volley of bullets into the beast, but predictably, given it was made of fire and all, they passed through harmlessly.

Scott, brave fool, charged, his aura flaring with strain as it slammed him into the ground. The others fled screaming, blue flames eating away at their clothes.

Stiles figured there was a better option. There was no way he was leaving his friend to become cat food, but his rifle was useless against the fire beast's body. However, it that thing was the intelligence agent's semblance, then taking her out would probably weaken it, if not completely wipe it out.

He raised his gun, ready to blow the bitch's brains out.

Only to hear the distinctive cock of a pistol click behind his head.

"Not bad. Fewer people think to aim at her than you'd think," a female voice said. "Too little too late, I'm afraid."

Stiles whirled around to meet the new assailant, but all he received for his trouble was a bullet to the head.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

" **Ice-Make Geyser!** " Gray roared.

Spires of pink ice erupted from the center of the courtyard. Dozens of White Fang grunts screamed in terror as they were consumed or blasted back by the frozen stampede. Those that were lucky enough to avoid the attack hefted their rifles towards the wizard, pouring down as much fire as they could, for all the dust rounds could penetrate the mystical stalagmites. They chipped off the frozen structure bit by bit but by the time they'd made any significant progress, the Fairy Tail wizard had already fired off another blast to bind them to the containers. With their bullheads fused to the ground in crystal, the only other way they'd get out of this compound was on a ship to prison.

He had to admit, he agreed with Weiss. Months of slow espionage and careful information gatherings were all well and good, but he was hungry for some action. And while he would always be up for a drag-out, knockdown fight, there was something undeniably satisfying about mowing down waves upon waves of assholes. These people had ransacked Beacon, and slaughtered thousands throughout Vale. Whatever merit their beliefs held, their methods could not be allowed to continue.

Weiss had leapt into the fray with uncharacteristic bloodlust. Not to the point of aiming to kill, but she was hardly being the same perfectly practiced fighter she'd always tried to be. Gone was the precise, patient long-range attacks. Now, the Schnee heiress darted across the battlefield on her glyphs, chains of black ice lashing out at her foes, wrapping the terrorists up and slamming them into the containers.

It took them barely a few minutes before they were sure of victory, Gray creating the landscape and Weiss dancing across it. At that point, the small fry might as well have just been decorative art.

"Take care of the rest of them," Weiss shouted. "I'll deal with Taurus!"

Gray nodded, sparing a brief glance towards the only opponent who could really be considered a threat to them. They had intentionally isolated the bull faunus from his forces, no point in giving him any more resources than they needed to. Weiss' Arma Gigas would keep him busy until they'd finished dealing with his men.

At least, that had been the plan, but Adam had no intention of making it that easy for them. He had matched the towering Grimm armor blow for blow, their furious exchange of strikes demolishing the side of the warehouse. Even now, the bull faunus leaped atop the flat of the Arma Gigas' blade, running up the phantasmal blade until he reached the spirit's metal shoulders. He promptly removed his sheath from his waist, transformed it into a shotgun, and opened both barrels down the helmet's opening into the suit itself.

The Grimm armor slumped to its knees and dispersed into starlight. Adam hopped back to the ground and whirled around to face the others, only for his scarred face to stretch in shock.

"Help us, sir!" one of the soldiers screamed, only to get pinned by another surge of Gray's ice and knocked unconscious.

Even with his eyes hidden by his mask, Adam's gaze clearly flickered around the battlefield, from his men, to the still open compound gates, to the frozen bullheads. After a few seconds, he sneered and ran away into the maze of cargo containers.

"Coward!" Weiss shouted after. "Face me!"

"Weiss, wait!" Gray called, but she was already gone.

The ice wizard gritted his teeth. In pure power, he had no doubt his former student had the edge on the terrorist. But if he'd witness Blake and Yang's power at Beacon, then he might be aware of that as well. And that meant his retreat into the maze of cargo containers wasn't cowardly, but strategic. He needed to circumvent Weiss' strength with an environment he could use to perform hit and run attacks.

Maybe she could handle it, but it was all too possible that the bull faunus might get a lucky shot. And if his semblance was what the reports said it was, then one shot would be all he needed.

Gray couldn't let that happen. He needed to back her up. Which meant he couldn't waste any more time on the small fry.

"Um, why's that guy taking off his clothes?"

The ice wizard had barely noticed the stripping the random White Fang grunt referred to, but it would be awfully convenient to make his true power known.

He dipped down into the recesses of his soul, stirring strength that was not wholly his own, but birthed by hell itself. Hatred, rage, and fury stirred within his spirit, held in check only by his spirit's promise of an outlet for its wrath. And wrath was not a blazing inferno like most people thought, not at its strongest. No, wrath was a patient thing, a venom that seeped through the heart and corrupted the mind.

Wrath, was a cold, creeping _chill_.

A tattoo blacker than the deepest night appeared over his right arm and streaked up the side of his face, its surging power spiking his hair skyward. An air of purple magical energy, separate from his aura, emanated off of him. His foes all ceased fire, unable to stop trembling in abject horror before the creature demons feared.

" **Ice Devil's Zeroth Long Sword!** "

They flew from his hands, dozens upon dozens of frozen blades. The wisest of the White Fang attempted to flee, but most could not overcome their terror. But even those who ran could not escape, the swords tracking their path and spearing them into the ice geyser or the cargo containers, sometimes through bones, sometimes through flesh.

Gray took a deep breath, his tattoo evaporating into nothingness. His Full Demon form was to him what Natsu and Wendy's Dragonforce was to them, a heightened state that drastically increased his magical output. Unfortunately, said output also required he had the magic energy to put into it, something a little more complicated considering the sparse ethernano of Remnant. He would not be able to maintain it long in this world.

But perhaps that was for the best. After all, while Dragonforce was for the most part just a power boost, his Full Demon form had additional drawbacks. The more he drew from its strength, from that hellish well, the louder his worst impulses screamed within him. When he'd first developed the power during his time with Juvia when the guild was disbanded, he'd sought out Erza for help controlling the state, which led to her asking for his help infiltrating Avatar. His old friend had helped him understand that rage was not something that could be quelled and smothered, not completely. His darkest parts were still a part of him.

So, he'd learned to channel that darkness, that fury. It wasn't too hard, any foe that would require him to go that far likely would have earned his ire anyway. He would guide that dark strength into destroying his enemies, anyone who tried to cause harm to his guild, to his family. But after what nearly happened with Natsu during the war…

The power of the abyss was not something to be taken lightly. But if it was to save his family, he'd brave a thousand hells.

He whirled around and dashed after Weiss.

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"Come out, Taurus!" Weiss hollered, carefully running through the maze of cargo containers. "You're not getting out of this! Surrender now before you make this worse for yourself!"

Not that he really could make it worse for himself. The public didn't know about Cinder, so Adam was the public perpetrator of the Fall of Beacon. If he was caught, he wouldn't be getting less than a life sentence.

"Oh? The Schnee is offering me _mercy_?" the bull faunus' voice echoed out, its reverberation making it difficult to home in on. "I'm afraid I'll have to decline. I've seen how you monsters treat your victims."

"Oh, the irony. The most wanted terrorist on the planet is calling me a monster," Weiss replied. If she could just keep him talking, she might be able to figure out where he was. "Blake said you were psychotic but she didn't mention you were a comedian."

"Don't you dare speak her name!"

Only the shout prevented Weiss from being sliced in two. As it was, she had enough warning to leap aside just as the gigantic crimson slash sheared through the cargo container beside her. Taurus rammed through the opening from the other aisle, his scarlet sword echoing its master's cry for blood.

The Fairy Tail wizard summoned her glyphs and retreated, dancing back as her rapier diverted each of the bull faunus' powerful swings. He had just used up all the power he'd stored up against her Arma Gigas and that slash would have surely bisected her if it had struck, aura or not. He was like Yang, only more styled towards killing outright instead of just beating someone to a pulp. If she met him head-on, she'd only be making him stronger.

Fortunately, Weiss' strength had never been in pure force, but in battlefield manipulation. Her time in Fairy Tail granted her a deep well of pure power, but it had also sharpened her other abilities and her tactics. She wouldn't try to match blows with a physically superior foe like she had with that chainsaw-wielding lieutenant at the Breach again.

And thus, she waited. She retreated back, allowing Adam to rain down blow after blow, each time pirouetting just out of his reach. She twirled and tumbled and maneuvered the containers into his path, watching his already pathetically poor temper burn ever more out of his control.

"You took her from me!" he raged. "You twisted her mind and then you turned her into your attack dog! You made her weak!"

"I take it we're talking about Blake here?" Weiss needled, ducking under his next swing. "If that's the case, then she was never stronger than when she left your insanity behind."

"You made her a monster!" Adam roared, his sword glowing scarlet with whatever meager power he had. "But you made me a savior! I will put an end to your tyranny and put humanity exactly where you belong!"

"Doubtful."

There! His fury consumed him utterly, his anger finally compromising the expert form he'd trained into his bones. Weiss made use of the opening and flicked her rapier to the side, summoning a gravity glyph that pulled Adam across the aisle. The bull faunus rammed into the container but managed to wrench himself off the metal before long.

But that was all the time Weiss needed. She slammed Myrtenaster's pommel into her palm and then smashed both into the ground, magic flooding from her fingertips.

" **Ice God Jotunheim!"**

A thick sheet of black ice flashed across the asphalt, climbing up and incasing the nearby cargo containers. Divine power surged from her flesh, the very air itself seeming to freeze from her command, the battlefield becoming her domain, the kingdom of the one who could slay gods.

"Magic," Adam growled, now with his feet frozen to the ground and his blade frozen to the wall. "You craven witch!"

"Again, says the terrorist," Weiss intoned. She thrust out her hands, her maker magic pose perfect and practiced, a time dilation glyph appearing below her feet. A magic circle, distinct from her semblance's glyphs, blossomed before her. " **Ice God Phalanx!** "

A bombardment of frozen lances erupted from her mystical crest, her time dilation creating two more beside it and accelerating her rate of fire. Dozens of spikes of black ice cut through the air and rammed into Adam, the bull faunus screaming as a barrage powerful enough to reduce a paladin to scrap metal tore into his flesh. But with his weapon restrained and his feet trapped, there was little he could do but take the blast on his aura.

In a few seconds, it was over. The terrorist's aura crackled and died, his body slumping to the ground, held aloft only by the hand gripping his weapon. His Grimm mask, the symbol of the terror he had inspired in the innocent, cracked in two and crumbled to the icy asphalt.

Weiss dispersed her magic circle and glyph, heaving a contented sigh of relief, striding forward. It was over. She'd done it. Whatever conspiracy had smuggled Adam into Atlas might still be at large, but the man himself, the man who had led the attack on Beacon and haunted Blake's nightmares, was defanged. She had beaten him.

Except, she didn't know how much until the smoke cleared.

Her heart stopped as soon as she saw it, whatever taunting remark she was to make caught in her throat. Three simple letters, three letters that she had known all her life, that had _stood_ for her all her life… burned over his eye in wretched red flesh.

Adam raised his head and snarled at her, a sentiment she now understood so much more. "Admiring your handiwork, witch? Proud of the mark you left on your better?"

"I… I didn't… I didn't know…" Weiss whispered. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry? _Sorry?_ " Whenever veneer of sanity Adam possessed shattered into a cacophony of mad cackles. "How pathetic! You stomp over my people! Treat us like animals! And you say sorry like that doesn't make you a monster!"

"But… I didn't do this to you—"

"Your name! Your name is all I've seen for _fifteen years_! And I see you! I'm the only one who sees clearly! Blake! Sienna! They're blind! They think you can be reasoned with, that you deserve to live beside us! But you're weak! You're cruel! And I will be the one to crush you all beneath my boot where you belong! The whole world will see you for the monsters you are!"

He tugged his sword and the blade snapped free of the ice on the container. Evidently, he'd been faster than she'd thought escaping the gravity glyph, his crimson edge screaming towards her eyes.

And yet, she couldn't find the sense to move because her gaze was locked on his. On her name staring back at her from the beast her family had made.

"Weiss!"

A heavy force tackled her to the side and slammed her into the ice, forcibly rousing her from her daze and saving her life at the same time.

"No!" Adam howled, hacking into the ice with his sword, desperately trying to free his feet so he could get back into striking distance. "Schnee! Schnee!"

Gray hopped off Weiss and hovered over her protectively, his hands in position to cast if needed. And yet, his eyes widened the moment they landed on Adam's face.

"Holy shit," he muttered. "Is that—"

"I didn't know," Weiss murmured, staggering back to her feet, still unable to tear her eyes away from the brand. "I should have. Why didn't I know?"

"Because it doesn't matter."

A single gunshot cracked through the night. The left side of Adam's face, the marked side, suddenly crumbled in on itself, his bone crushed to paste as the bullet tore out the back of his skull.

The bull faunus' sword halted mid-strike. The blade, and its master, wilted to the ground, never to rise again.

Weiss and Gray whirled around to the opposite end of the aisle of cargo containers. Eleanor marched down the rows of steel, holstering her smoking pistol on her belt.

"What the hell was that?!" Gray roared. He ran up to Eleanor, gripped the elder Tremaine by the lapels of her uniform and slammed her into the nearest container. "It was over! He was beaten!"

"Then he shouldn't have been moving," the older agent replied, far too calm for having an angry wizard in her face. "You two were letting your guard down. Whatever sob story he had, that man was still a mass murderer. You do not pause mid-battle to cry over a criminal's childhood, you take them in. I will not risk assets as valuable as you two because you were too busy feeling sorry for him to stop him from stabbing you."

"You didn't have to kill him!" Weiss yelled. "He was… he was…"

"A psychopath. Being one of your father's many victims doesn't change that."

For a few tense moments, the air was cold, frost gathering on Gray's hands. The smallest sparks of flames crackled above Eleanor's shoulder, the faint image of a cat flickering in the night. The White Fang may have all been dealt with, but it would only take a single move to start another fight.

But as tired as they all were, as disgusted some of them were, they were still allies. For now, that counted for something. Gray released the Intelligence Agent, the grey-haired woman's semblance's fading away.

Eleanor sighed, a note of exhaustion and relief carrying out from her lungs. "Agent Tremaine and I will do a sweep of the stock, make sure none of the hostiles got away with anything. Get yourself together, Schnee. COMMAND ESR called the media down as soon as we engaged, and you need to be ready for your close-up. Tonight, you're a hero."

A hero? Was that what she was?

As Eleanor walked away and Gray came over to place a supporting hand on her shoulder, Weiss couldn't help but stare at Adam Taurus' corpse.

He was a terrorist, a mass murderer. He had knowingly and eagerly participated in the Fall of Beacon. The world was without question better off without him. Blake, someone who had once loved him, had called him a monster, a horrendous beast without mercy or conscience.

But he was a beast of her making, of her family's making. Of her _father's_ making.

Adam was just a symptom of the cancer that was Jacques Schnee. It was about time she cut out the disease.

* * *

 **Well, we get a warm and fuzzy Belladonna reunion, Blake takes another step in not running from her problems and seeking to take responsibility for her actions, and she's bought a few days from Tyrian's demands. But with the Gate of the Scorpion determined to please his goddess, how long will she be able to remain out of Salem's grasp.**

 **Meanwhile, Weiss gets everything she has been working towards so far, only to have her disgust for her father enhanced even further. A reckoning is approaching.**

 **An extra huge thank you to my patrons: ArcherMcMuffin, Gregg Tracton, Keith Traction, Annaya Chan, Nora Okonus, Paula mandel, KefkaesqueXIII, Christian Howard, and SanyaBane.**

 **Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!**

 **Go Forth and Conquer!**


	26. Chapter 25

**If you wish to support me and my college tuition, please check out my P a treon for future chapter summaries, story ideas and more: p a Treon.(c om) (backslash) themaster4444**

 **Beta-ed by xenosaiyan**

* * *

" _Breaking News! SDC Attacked! White Fang Crippled!"_

The anchor for the Atlas Broadcasting Network shuffled his papers and stared into the camera, his face beamed all across the kingdom. _"At 11 pm tonight, the faunus terrorist organization known as the White Fang launched an all-out assault on the Schnee Dust Company's Surplus Complex, where millions of lien of dust was being stored due to General Ironwood's embargo. The terrorists, led by the architect of the Fall of Beacon, the Blood-Soaked Bull Adam Taurus attempted to make off with the dust, doubtless to fuel their continued war against the kingdoms."_

" _However, Taurus and his followers found no easy prey here as they did at the Vytal Festival. Indeed, they were met with righteous justice from that atrocity, as the Atlas' own darling starlet Weiss Schnee single-handedly defeated the terrorists and killed the Blood-Soaked Bull!"_

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"That seems… unlikely," Robyn Hill remarked.

The Happy Huntresses, the band of Atlas Academy graduates that had turned down the military's offer to join in favor of aiding the oppressed people of Mantle, had all gathered around the small, beaten up television in their hideout. The four sat atop rugged crates and dusty cots, having only just come in from warding off a pack of Sabers from hitting the decaying western wall.

"You can say that again," May snorted. "Girl looks like a toothpick."

Joanna nudged her side. "She survived the Fall of Beacon. She's gotta have some meat on her bones."

May rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on! They can't seriously expect anyone to believe that she took down Adam Taurus and an entire White Fang strike force on her own! That's just ridiculous!"

"Ridiculous or not, people are eating it up," Fiona noted, searching through her scroll to various news sites. "This report's been out for maybe an hour and Atlas's public is singing her praises. There are even a few calls for her to run for council in the upcoming election."

Robyn cocked an eyebrow. "What about Mantle?"

"Most of them are for it, but from what I can tell a good chunk of people don't care too much," Fiona explained. "We've got enough trouble down here as it is. According to those folks whatever happens on Atlas' shiny metal ass is their business."

"Ha!" May laughed. "They ain't wrong about that."

Joanna sighed. The towering woman looked to her leader. "She might be a problem if she actually runs."

Robyn rolled her eyes. "No, no she will not. The most important thing isn't that I win, but that someone gets on the council solely to fight for Mantle. Even if the Ice Princess does run, which I don't think she will, I'd rather have her on the council than her old man."

May snorted. "Like she won't just be his puppet if she does."

"Maybe. Maybe not," Robyn replied. "Esper loves her, that's for sure."

"Esper loves all the Schnee kids. And they love her," Fiona pointed out. "Did you see that boy following her around? He was practically eating out of her hand."

"Better than being a clone of Jacques," May chuckled. However, her laughter faded quickly and she looked back to Robin. "So, what does this mean for us?"

Robyn shrugged. "Hopefully, good things. With Taurus dead and the White Fang 'beaten', Ironwood might finally see sense and lift the embargo."

May and Fiona sneered. Even Joanna rolled her eyes at the statement. "Since when do tyrants ever give up power?"

Robyn frowned, but she couldn't really refute them. Atlas had never particularly cared about Mantle, but in the last few months the general had been redirecting supplies that had been allocated to the defense repairs towards some secret project. The Happy Huntresses had been looking into the matter (some of the supplies had _gone missing_ on route only for similar qualities of the materials to mysteriously show up in the stores of Mantle companies), but so far all they'd been able to find out was that the Specialist Core was scouting out some abandoned SDC mine. For what purpose they did not know.

She hoped it was a good one, an actual matter of kingdom security. Back when they were just students at Atlas, when the general had been their headmaster, he had never seemed like a cruel man. He had actively and heavily encouraged them to join the military, but when they'd declined so that they could help Mantle, he hadn't pushed the subject despite his disappointment. Everything Robyn had gotten from Ironwood back then had led her to believe that he was a good man.

And yet, his actions since the Vytal Festival had suggested anything but. He ordered the dust embargo and closed the kingdom's borders. He was stealing supplies from Mantle, allowing their people to be mauled by Grimm incursions while Atlas lived as gluttonous as ever. He was intimidating the rest of the council so that Esper couldn't overturn his damned embargo. He poured more and more of the kingdom's budget in military protects while Mantle starved. These were not the actions of a good man. They were the actions of a tyrant using a tragedy to accumulate power.

But maybe she was wrong. She prayed that she was wrong, that he was just overreacting after the Fall of Beacon humiliated Atlas and left the other kingdoms furious with them. Some of them even whispered that the 'hacked' Knights hadn't actually been hacked. Either way, there wasn't much she could do legally until she won the upcoming election.

Until then, she'd have to hope that Esper could use recent events to repeal the embargo. The Chairwoman was good at playing the political game, both Atlas and Mantle adored her, some even clamoring for her to be granted emergency powers so that she could reverse Ironwood's measures without Council approval. But Robin knew where her true loyalty laid. Not long after the embargo began and Ironwood began appropriating Mantle's supplies, the Chairwoman had been the one to slip the Happy Huntresses the alternate routes. And when Robyn had demanded she submit to her semblance to make sure it wasn't some sort of trap; the former Specialist had done so eagerly.

Her aura had glowed green and confirmed she was telling the truth. She wanted to help the people.

Hopefully, Ironwood did as well.

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" _Sienna Khan, the so-called High Leader of the White Fang, has released a statement to the Atlas Government disavowing Taurus' recent actions, including the Breach of Vale and The Fall of Beacon. Whether these reports of the infamous Blood-Soaked Bull going rogue from the faunus terrorist organization remain unconfirmed."_

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"For gods' sake James, you've put down the rabid dog and penned the rest of the vermin! Lift the damn embargo!"

Whitley preened at his father's declaration for appearances' sake but inwardly cringed at his blunt manner. He knew from many SDC press releases that Jacques was capable of affecting a diplomatic if he wanted to, but it seemed in present company, all of whom were well aware of his more fiery disposition, he did not care to put in the effort.

They were all gathered around a round table in the general's office at Atlas Academy, some of the most powerful people in the kingdom. Ironwood, Winter at his side, sat at the head of the table, his exhausted eyes glaring at Jacques. Whitley stood with Madam Rosenflos on the general's right, her golden eyes closing as a sigh escaped her lips.

Across from her was the only person in the room Whitley had never met before, a masked woman in a highly decorated Atlas Intelligence uniform. Esper had glared daggers at her when she'd entered the room, her gaze soaked in a fury the young Schnee had never seen from his patron before. Quickly thinking back to the dossiers he'd been gifted on all important figures in the Atlas Military, it hadn't taken long to deduce that he had now met the infamous COMMAND ESR.

He couldn't say he got what the big deal was. She commanded Atlas Intelligence true, but she was subordinate to General Ironwood. Unnerving her mask may have been, the woman behind it hardly seemed remarkable.

"That may be unwise," the spymaster advised. "Adam Taurus may be dead, but we still don't know how he was able to get into the kingdom. Until then, it may be best to keep our defenses on high alert."

"High alert?" Jacques scoffed, his eyes filled with utter loathing at the masked woman. "Your high alert consisted of brainwashing my daughter to do your dirty work!"

"Don't talk like you care!" Winter shouted. "Weiss was approached with the job to protect the kingdom and she took it."

"Last I checked, she wasn't a licensed huntress!" Jacques sneered, his gaze falling on Ironwood. "Well, general? Has the military grown so desperate that they're recruiting children before they've even graduated? Or is it just Atlas Intelligence? This is hardly new territory for them. Did you even know about this little operation?"

Ironwood's hand closed into a fist. "Atlas Intelligence is part of the military. They are under my command. Their decisions are my decisions."

"So that means they aren't making them behind your back? If I find out even a single canister went missing from my storehouse because of 'errant fire', was that your decision too—"

"Jacques," Esper spoke up, drawing all eyes to her. "You have my deepest apologies. Here we are talking about bureaucracy and politics when your daughter just fought for her life against the White Fang. You must be worried sick about her, but you're here out of duty to your kingdom."

Whitley had to repress a chuckle at that. Duty to their kingdom? Father? The very thought was almost as funny as the scowl that spread across Winter's face.

"Go to her. Make sure she's alright and the media isn't taking advantage of her," Esper continued. "We will make you aware of the date the council decides on for the hearing regarding the embargo repeal."

It was polite but hardly subtle. It was the Chairwoman's way of telling father that his bluster wasn't helping. She would advance their cause of undoing the embargo, but for now, he needed to leave it to her. Whitley knew that if she'd been so blunt that Jacques would have raged just to keep up appearances, but so did Esper. She knew how to phrase it so they could both walk away with their egos intact.

Father huffed, but he seemed to get the message, straightening up to go. He nodded to Whitley. "I'll see you at home, my boy."

He marched out of the room.

Ironwood sighed. "Thank you for that. I have enough of a headache as it is."

"You're welcome," Esper replied. Her eyes narrowed at COMMAND ESR. "But he does raise a good point. How much is Intelligence actually sharing with the rest of us? What information I received suggested the White Fang planned to assault the shipment to Polendina Labs."

"They did," Ironwood reminded her. "It was simply Taurus' decoy. He fooled us."

"But not Intelligence," Esper said. "Isn't that why you had Ms. Schnee waiting for them, COMMAND?"

It was slight, but Whitley thought he saw the spymaster's fists tighten. "We allocated information as necessary to catch the White Fang off-guard. We did not know if whoever got Taurus into Atlas was still backing him and so conducted the surplus complex operation in-house. And, I should note, it worked. The Blood-Soaked Bull is dead, and we have dozens of prisoners to interrogate about their accomplice."

"See that you do," General Ironwood commanded. "And the next time you want to conduct an operation "in-house", remember that I am the head of that house."

"General?"

"If tonight hadn't been the success it had been, if Ms. Schnee had been seriously injured, or gods forbid died," Ironwood growled. "I would have your hide."

COMMAND ESR held the headmaster's gaze for a few seconds before nodding. "Understood, sir. It won't happen again."

"See that it doesn't. Dismissed. Winter, ensure escort COMMAND out."

Winter saluted. "Yes, sir. Madam Chairwoman," She glanced at Whitley. "Brother."

Whitley frowned. "Winter."

His sister sighed at his dismissal, though he doubted she expected anything more. While he had some lingering affection for Weiss, Winter had never spared him any care until after she'd abandoned him to father and mother's _tender_ mercies. He had no desire to make up for lost time with the Ice Queen.

COMMAND ESR rose to her feet, saluted the general, and then the commanders of the Specialist Core and Atlas Intelligence marched out of the office side-by-side.

Esper glared at the spymaster's back until the door closed behind her. "I'm not blind, you know. It isn't difficult to figure out that she suspects me."

"She suspects everyone. It's her job," Ironwood pointed out. His hands raked down his face, stretching the bags under his eyes even wider. "It'll be nice to go to sleep with some good news for once. If you don't mind, let's schedule this meeting some other time."

"I'm afraid I can't do that, James," Esper said. "The rest of the council are demanding we schedule a hearing to vote on this embargo."

"Of course they are," Ironwood moaned. "Eight o'clock. Five days from now."

"Why not three?" Esper joked. "We can get this embargo lifted and send out messengers to start restoring trade relations with the other kingdoms by the end of the week—"

"We won't be lifting it."

"What?" Whitley squawked. Too late, he realized he'd spoken aloud as both the general and the chairwoman looked to him.

It was hardly his intention to get such attention thrust upon him. A Schnee he may be, he had no illusions about his political standing. He was an assistant, not an official. He had no place to speak here, not yet.

But he couldn't simply do nothing, could he? He'd been with the Council Chairwoman every day, going over the documents and statistics on just how much harm the embargo was doing to the kingdom's economy. The SDC weren't the only ones losing money, businesses across Mantle and Atlas were operating on a loss. Hell, according to reports, most smaller prospects in the slums had been forced to shut down.

Of course, he obviously didn't care that such people were suffering… no, no, he didn't. Esper cared about it, she'd put more and more relief bills and tax exemptions on the council floor than he'd thought was possible trying to keep those jobs afloat. She'd written day and night and marched into the other councilors' offices to negotiate their support. She'd even asked him what he'd thought was best, and when he'd answered with what father might have said, she'd patiently informed him of the unfortunate consequences of such a plan.

He cared about the effect the embargo was having on Mantle because if those small businesses went under then their neighborhoods would consequently become poorer. And if any SDC employees lived in that neighborhood and their quality of living were to drop, they might start demanding raises and that would be a ruckus the company didn't need.

Yes, that was the reason. Not because he cared. That would be foolish.

And even if he did, he certainly didn't care enough to openly defy the most powerful man in Atlas.

"My apologies, general," he backpedaled. "What I mean to say is… why?"

Esper smiled and turned back to Ironwood. "He asks an excellent question, James. The mastermind behind the Fall of Beacon is dead. We've avenged our humiliation. What possible justification is there to keep this embargo going when our people are suffering from it? Unless… unless you think there's still a threat." Her eyes widened. "You don't think Adam Taurus was behind what happened at Beacon? Or tonight? That's why you're entertaining COMMAND ESR's delusions."

The general did not respond. He rose to his feet. "The hearing will be in five days. Unless the Council has at least eighty percent of those present in favor, the embargo will remain."

"Which won't happen because you hold two of five seats," Esper argued, jumping to her feet. For a tense few seconds, the two huntsmen held each other's gaze, their iron wills jockeying for advantage.

Ironwood broke the silence first. "The embargo will stand."

"Godsdamnit James! Half the kingdom thinks you're a tyrant and the other half is coming around," Esper shouted. "I want to help you, I do. But I cannot help you, cannot convince the rest of the council to trust you, if I don't know what's going on!"

The general sighed. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Wouldn't believe what?" Esper demanded. "Who Adam Taurus' master is if it's not Sienna Khan? Or maybe what Pietro Polendina needs so much dust for? Or what the hell you're planning to do with Amity Coliseum that justifies leaving Mantle with less than a skeleton defense?"

"Those are classified."

"The council has security clearance—"

"Not this high. Not for this!" Ironwood snapped.

"They're the governing body of the kingdom!"

"They are civilians. This is a military matter."

"Listen to yourself!" Esper pleaded. "I trust you, James. I really do. But when you act like a tyrant and give no justifications for why, what else are they to think but that you are a tyrant?"

Ironwood averted his gaze and marched to his desk. He planted his hands on the metal and stared off towards the Atlas skyline. "As long as this kingdom and its people are safe, they can think what they like of me."

Esper sighed. "Then they will. But I wish they didn't have to. Goodbye, James."

"Goodbye, Esper. See you at the council meeting."

The Chairwoman turned and exited the room, Whitley following after. Once they were encased in the protective steel of the elevator, his patron finally allowed herself to sag against the wall.

"He's a fool," Whitley assured her. Once, that might have been sycophantic pandering, but after months of working with Esper he knew such a sentiment would not be appreciated. Unfortunately, the general's stubbornness more than warranted it. "If he tries to deadlock the council, eventually he won't be able to keep them from removing him. Or the public will do so once his seats come up for election."

"That is a distinct possibility," the chairwoman declared. "But I fear that such a thing might only escalate matters. He controls the military, and most of them believe in him completely."

Whitley scoffed. "It does seem unwise of the Vytal Treaty to separate military and civilian power like that."

"It has worked for decades," Esper declared, pushing herself upright again. She brushed herself off and plastered on a camera-ready smile. "It's our duty to make sure it continues to serve the people as well as it can."

"As it can?" Whitley repeated, curious about that particular phrasing.

The elevator dinged open and the pair stepped out into the grand lobby of Atlas Academy, pristine yet structured, a model of the kingdom's military efficiency. At the moment, it was filled with frantic shouts and flashing cameras, a mob of reporters and press types squished together, all of them shoving towards their target.

Said target was quite clear on the other side of the foyer. Weiss was mustering her way through the flood of reporters, doing her best to smile genially as she and a pair of uniformed Intelligence agents (was that the boy she'd been talking with at the gala? So that was when they'd recruited her?) shoved as many of them aside as possible trying to get to the entryway and escape into a limo where Klein was dutifully waiting.

Esper cracked a smile. "She's handling them better than I expected. I've seen people punch them when they get like this."

"Charming," Whitley noted bitterly. "Weiss did always have a talent for performances."

Esper sighed. "Whitley, do you love your father?"

"That… is a complicated question."

"But you don't believe he loves you. Do you love Weiss?"

Whitley frowned. "I did. Once. But she chose to leave me behind. I have chosen to survive."

"Living is more than surviving," Esper advised. "It's having friends and family. And while I'm more than happy to be by your side, you shouldn't cast your sister aside just because she made a choice with more consequences than she understood at the time."

"She cast me aside," Whitley said, though not with as much conviction as he expected. "Why should I not return the favor?"

Esper shook her head and gave him a soft pat on the back. "Because family isn't about getting even. It isn't about using each other like your father does. That's the coward's way."

"Coward?" Whitley cocked an eyebrow. "My father is many things, but a coward? A coward wouldn't invite Ironwood's wrath over and over."

"He'd rather treat people as tools than have the bravery to reach out to them, to try to form real bonds with them," Esper elaborated. "Be better than him, stronger than him. Reach out to your sister, and perhaps the two of you can love each other again."

Whitley couldn't find the words to respond to that. Forgive Weiss? Just forget all that he had suffered because she had left him alone? He didn't know if he could, if he ever would.

But… for the first time in a long time, he was wondering if he wanted to.

"Oh, what have we here?"

Whitley followed Esper's gaze towards Weiss' group, specifically at Winter. His eldest sister trudged her way through the reporters, few brave enough to beg a comment from the Specialist Commander but most wisely got out of her way.

She made her way to Weiss and the two engaged in a brief, but quickly heated discussion, inaudible amidst the roar of the press.

"I don't suppose you can read lips," he joked.

"They're saying… 'The matter we spoke of earlier is classified. Cannot tell you'," Esper relayed, raising an eyebrow.

"You can actually—"

"You pick up quite a few tricks as a huntress. And apparently Weiss is not happy about not getting the info, and Winter—" Esper recoiled as if she were struck, her eyes going wide with worry. "She says to ask your father."

"Ask father?" Whitley repeated. "That doesn't sound like something Winter would say. And what would Weiss need with something classified?"

"If she's after what I think she is, then nothing good for anyone," Esper declared.

They continued to watch the scene. Winter pulled away from Weiss and grabbed one of the Intelligence officers, a yellow-eyed woman with a scar running down the left side of her face, dragging her off into the academy.

After that, Weiss and her black-haired beau finally managed to push their way through the reporters and into the limo, Klein expertly shutting the door behind them and getting in the driver's side. Soon, the couple were off.

And the reporters had sighted new meat.

"Is that the Council Chairwoman?"

"Madam Rosenflos!"

"Is that Whitley Schnee? Sir, care to comment on your sister's timely heroics?!"

Whitley could only sigh as Esper let out a chuckle at the mob's charge. It was looking to be a long night.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

" _Ms. Schnee! Why were you at the facility when it was attacked? Was it a surprise inspection?"_

" _Have you taken on a role in your father's company? Do you still plan to continue your huntress training?!"_

" _How did it feel to avenge all your classmates who were slain at Beacon?"_

If she had not been trained to handle the media since before she could properly understand that they were the little people inside the tv, Weiss might have been overwhelmed by the storm of questions. As it was, she was able to pick and choose which she answered in the frantic hail of reporters and play the rest off with a genial smile. After she had replied enough to ensure her public image, she had pushed through the mob with Gray and Drizzella's help (Eleanor had apparently wanted someone to keep an eye on her) and made for an escape vehicle helpfully provided by Klein.

But before they'd left, Winter had caught up to them. Fortunately, the public setting and the time she must have had to process Weiss' actions had meant there was no furious lecture born of worry. However, that did not prevent her from delivering bad news.

With a cautious glance at Drizzella, Winter had tactfully confirmed that the matter they had discussed at the Sterling Knight was indeed classified above top secret. There was nothing she could do to tell her.

But she had let her know who might be willing to let something slip.

And so, when she arrived at the mansion and Klein made her aware that Jacques had commanded her to come to his office, she'd marched straight there, even as her faithful butler unloaded a suitcase she had never seen before and Gray had voiced his well-meant queries if she was alright.

She was not alright.

She was not _supposed_ to be alright.

She entered Jacques' office and closed the door behind her, sliding the lock shut.

"I see you managed to escape your adoring public," Jacques observed, casually standing in front of his desk, setting an empty tumbler down beside a half-empty bottle of brandy. "I must commend you on that. And your work tonight. You defended this family and removed an infuriating thorn in our side."

Weiss said nothing. She stared at her father with icy blue eyes, the temperature of the office subtly dropping.

"Of course, despite your success, do not think you are without reproach," Jacques continued, pouring himself another glass of alcohol. "I don't know when or how you ended up in Atlas Intelligence's pocket, but you will cut all ties with them immediately. I will not have any member of this family associated with those lying, backstabbing pieces of filth."

"Look in a mirror lately?"

Jacques' eyes narrowed, his knuckles tightening around his glass. "What did you say? You will not disrespect me, young lady—"

"Operation Godmother's Haven."

It gave Weiss no small amount of pleasure to see her sire's face light up with terror.

"Don't spout things words you don't know anything about," he growled. "I don't know where you heard that name but—"

His words froze in his throat as his eyes finally realized that the brandy in his hand was no longer liquid. His alcohol was now a cylinder of golden ice with a black frost coating.

Weiss ceased his moment of confusion and stalked towards him like a lioness on the prowl. She strode up to his desk and glared him in the face.

"Eleanor Tremaine and COMMAND ESR were very eager to get me to work with them," she said. "Airing your dirty laundry was apparently their way of buttering me up. It was quite effective. Just thinking about what happened to that girl Ella because of you."

"You dare!" he roared, smacking his tumbler down on his desk. "I am your father! You think to threaten me—"

Weiss slapped her hand onto his desk. The fine Mistralian wood was instantly covered in a thick sheet of pitch-black ice, the room temperature dropped to freezing.

Jacques leapt away from the sudden incursion, his eyes widening as he stared at her in abject horror.

"I am not your pet. I am not another thing you own or command," Weiss snarled. "And I do not think to threaten you. I _am_ threatening you. Give me my family's company back, or I will make the public fully aware of your sins. After that, I imagine the board will force you out."

"You… I'll disown you!"

"Oh yes, imagine how that will go over. Disowning the Slayer of Adam Taurus, the one spark of hope for the kingdom in these dark times," Weiss parroted. "Your public image isn't exactly sterling as it is. If you did that, I imagine I could start my own company and your entire workforce would join me."

Jacques growled, but he couldn't meet her gaze. His resolve was weakening. "You wouldn't dare release the details of Godmother's Haven. Ironwood wouldn't let you. It would bring down the entire kingdom! Mistral would declare war on us!"

Oh? That was interesting. The only things she actually knew about the classified operation were what little Gray had overheard from the Tremaine sisters' conversation in the Sterling Knight, that it had involved stopping a war and some girl named Ella and her father had publicly died in a rather unpleasant manner. Pricking Jacques' psyche as she was probably wasn't what Winter had meant when she'd said to ask him about it. But with Adam's brand still fresh and throbbing in Weiss' mind, she couldn't seem to care.

"The version Eleanor told me wouldn't. It would just make them righteously furious with _you_ ," Weiss sneered. "And if comes out, I think that's the version of the story the kingdom will support."

Now, for the first time, she saw her father's face go white. "You… you can't. You can't let them blame me for what happened! I did it to keep Mistral from declaring war on Menagerie! I didn't know what would happen!"

Menagerie? What?

"Give me a break," Weiss scoffed, hiding her internal confoundment. "Since when have you given a damn about the faunus?"

"I don't!" Jacques snapped back, a bit of spirit back in his voice. "And I didn't. But the opportunity was too good to pass up. Ghira Belladonna had just become Chieftain of that tent town of an island, and with all his prancing about humans and faunus working together, I thought he might have been negotiable to the SDC establishing a presence to help develop the land. Imagine, building the country from the ground up! An entire nation under our family's political and economic… guidance."

Of course. She should have figured it was something like that. Nothing motivated the bastard more than profit.

"I assume those plans would have been complicated if Mistral had declared war on Menagerie. Sienna Khan taking over the White Fang would hardly fill them with generosity towards the island of the faunus," Weiss surmised.

Jacques sneered. "Atlas wasn't fond of them either, but Ironwood was determined not to let another Faunus War break out. I had provided off the books funding for Intelligence before. So, when COMMAND approached me and asked that I introduce Eleanor to Ben Autumn, I thought nothing of it! I thought it would work out for everyone when they married! The SDC would profit from Menagerie, Eleanor and her daughters would gain a foothold in Mistral politics they could use to bully away the declaration of war, and she and Ben even seemed happy together! How was I supposed to know she was going to kill him and his little girl?"

Benjamin Autumn? The name vaguely rang a bell in the back of Weiss' mind, pulling her thoughts to old stories Winter used to tell her about their grandfather and histories on prominent councilman from across the four kingdoms. Benjamin Autumn was a friend of Nicholas', the one who'd gone to bat for him in the Mistral Government to allow the SDC to expand onto Anima. He had also been one of the more prominent figures in their social circle promoting Jacques to him. A poor judge of character perhaps, but a good man on most accounts.

And no matter his friendships, a Mistralian.

"I take it he wasn't too pleased to find out that Atlas was interfering in Mistral's government," she noted.

"Of course he wasn't!" Jacques shouted, his fist smacking into the bookcase, his face red and his eyes puffy. "He threatened to expose everything! Mistral would have declared war on us as well as the animals! And Eleanor made the wrong call! She killed him! Her wretched spawn killed little Ella! They cannot blame me for that!"

It was strange seeing him distressed. Not furious or off-guard, but genuinely grieving, like a child who didn't understand that he couldn't have candy for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. He understood the reality, but he didn't know how to comprehend and process it. Evidentially, he had considered Councilman Autumn as much a friend as he was capable of considering anyone such.

The rest of Mistral had too. Now that she knew what to look for, she could piece together the rest from the news reports she'd seen back then and the history lessons she'd been forced to study for politics. Benjamin Autumn and his daughter Ella had been murdered and their house burned to the ground, all evidence pointing that the outspoken liberal councilman had been murdered by the Hunters for Humanity, a faunus hate group that had rivaled the White Fang for their tenure as a peaceful organization.

Of course, despite their protests of innocence, the group's history of intimidation and violence was against them, and the evidence, planted by Atlas Intelligence, made them look even more guilty. Those that were previously their supporters instantly abandoned them, shocked at the savage murder of such a highly respected citizen and his child. Combined with whatever efforts the Tremaines had already put in motion, the aftershock of such a tragedy must have been what convinced the council to back down from war.

This was Operation Godmother's Haven. Preventing a war, no doubt saving Menagerie… by manipulating and then murdering a good man.

"In the end, Eleanor returned to Atlas, Mistral sending their best with the widow of their beloved councilman. Ironwood discovered the details of what happened and swore all involved to secrecy." Jacques confessed, doing his best to get himself together. "And it was all for nothing."

"Mistral didn't declare war."

"No, but Ben's death prompted Sienna Khan to start her tenure of leadership off with a bang. In a month, she'd raided a dozen SDC convoys, and since Ghira Belladonna refused to name them a terrorist organization, he even lets them keep a public enclave on that cesspit of an island, I couldn't approach him for my development proposition without looking weak."

Weiss scowled. "Was that when you started branding faunus?"

"Branding? Oh, that," Jacques waved off. "I've never done it myself but I've heard rumors that some of the mine managers feel the need to… straighten out some of the more unruly animals—"

Weiss slammed her fist into her palm. She wasn't allowed to carry Myrtenaster in her father's presence, but a flash of Maker Magic put a blade of black ice in her hand, its edge only an inch from Jacques' throat.

"They are not animals. They are victims. _Your_ victims! Just like me, and Winter, and mother, and Whitley, and everyone else you've hurt!" Weiss snarled. "Godmother's Haven may not have been your fault, but I can still use Intelligence's version of it to _destroy_ you! You have one week to transfer your ownership and shares in my family's company to me and get out of this house. Otherwise, it won't end well for you."

Jacques staggered back, actually bumping up against the bookcase. "You… you dare attempt to blackmail me!?"

His palm screeched through the air, racing for her face. If she wasn't on guard, it might have actually struck. As it suddenly clicked that he had struck her mother so many times before. But he was not facing a child, or an innocent woman he'd grinded into submission. She was a huntress, a wizard!

Weiss snatched his wrist in her left hand, her aura enhanced strength easily holding him in a steel vice. Her eyes narrowed as his widened in terror.

"Now, _father_ …"

She lunged forward, thrusting her ice sword through the bookcase only an inch to the right of his head. Jacques promptly collapsed to the floor.

"I believe we already established that I was threatening you," Weiss finished. "One week. No more."

She whirled around and marched out of the office, her sire left sprawled on the ground.

As she strode down the hall, her heels clipping across the marble floor, she held no illusions that her latest move would be the end of this matter. Her display may have frightened Jacques, maybe even terrified him, but the scumbag hadn't gotten as far as he had in life by going down easy. He would rally and fire back at her, somehow, some way.

But her gambit had been successful. She'd managed to trick him into revealing the truth of Godmother's Haven to her, while she'd made him believe she had a twisted version that would only implicate him. There was no such thing as far as she knew, but she had a sneaking suspicion Atlas Intelligence would have prepared something for if Jacques went rogue. And if she could convince them that she'd be more useful to them at the head of the SDC, she somehow doubted they'd have many issues backing her early ascension.

If worse came to worst, however, she had bought herself a bit of time. Jacques couldn't disinherit her, it'd be his word against hers that she'd attacked him, and with their current reputations, no one would believe him over her. So, while he was scrambling about like a chicken with its head cut off trying to ascertain what dirt she actually did have on him, she would quietly move all her assets, including the handsome salary Intelligence had been paying her the last few months, into accounts that she truly controlled. That way, he wouldn't be able to cut her off as he had at Beacon. She'd move out before the week was out and purchase an apartment in the city. After that, it would just be a matter of gaining influence, something she was already excelling at with her connections to Winter and General Ironwood. Maybe she could even call on Whitley to get the Council Chairwoman on her side. That help would come in handy if Intelligence turned on her.

Her eyes narrowed at that thought. She knew she could count on Gray without question, but the Tremaines? COMMAND ESR? She understood that the world often forced people to make hard choices to stop worse consequences, but from what she'd seen they were outright vicious, brutal. Eleanor had shot Adam Taurus when he was without aura and it was plainly obvious that she and Gray could have restrained him nonlethally. No, she'd killed him to keep him quiet. They'd made a production of capturing all the other grunts alive, but the Blood-Soaked Bull was the only one who might have known who'd gotten him into the kingdom.

Intelligence blamed Esper Rosenflos for Adam getting into the kingdom. But that was where they wanted Weiss to look. She figured the truth was more obvious. Much more obvious.

Jacques. Atlas Intelligence. She would not let them claim any more lives, create any more monsters.

Fairy Tail would stop them.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

"Commander, I must protest. I need to return to Intelligence Headquarters for debriefing—"

"Drizzella, I am in no mood for a runaround," Winter snapped, shutting the door of the classroom she'd commandeered and whirling on her former teammate. She withdrew a scroll tablet from her jacket and brought up an image from the Vytal Festival. "Do you know this woman?"

The Atlas Intelligence glanced at the image and cocked an eyebrow. "I can't say I do, ma'am. Who is she?"

Winter frowned. "At the moment, our prime suspect for Adam Taurus' backer. We believe her team infiltrated the tournament through Haven and used the Fall as a distraction to acquire something extremely dangerous."

"You're saying she organized a terrorist attack and Grimm invasion as a distraction?" Drizzella replied, suddenly very serious. "What was she after?"

"Classified."

"Alright. Do we have any leads on her?"

Winter bit her lip. "That was what I was hoping you could help me with. She calls herself Cinder Fall but based on certain intelligence we suspect that may be an alias."

"Huh?" Drizzella remarked. "I apologize, Commander. But I have no idea who this person is."

"Please, Drizzella," Winter whispered. "I know about Operation Godmother's Haven. I know Ella Autumn didn't die in that fire."

Drizzella's eyes widened in shock, curling away from her former leader in shame. Her fingers flew up to her scar and grazed the broken flesh.

Winter had known her teammates were haunted by their past from the moment they met in Atlas Academy. She knew the broken look in their eyes from her mother's gaze, no matter how Ana diverted it with jokes or Drizzella masked it with professionalism. But as Specialist Commander, she was finally able to access the full details of Godmother's Haven that shattered their psyches, details duty prevented her from sharing with Weiss.

The Tremaine sisters, even back then at thirteen years old, were already assassins, the murderers of many anti-faunus Mistral officials were working to push the kingdom to war over the White Fang's turn to violence. But when they were sent to execute their stepsister who had learned too much, just as her father had, for some reason Eleanor had instead ordered them to fake the girl's death and kidnapped her back to Atlas. For three years, the young girl was trained as an elite operative, loyalty beaten into her by Eleanor's fists, to make her the kingdom's most dangerous weapon. Why the Tremaine matriarch believed the random girl was worth sparing wasn't mentioned in the report, perhaps lingering affection for the loving husband she murdered for her country, but in the end, it mattered little. Agent Ella Tremaine died on her first mission, the KIA report confirmed by COMMAND ESR herself.

But she had already proven more than willing to withhold information if she saw fit.

"You think that Ella is… that's absurd!" Drizzella protested, genuinely shocked. "Ella is dead!"

"Ana thought she looked—"

"Ana is a child that still thinks we have a third sister!" Drizzella protested. "She's delusional! We lost our sister when we killed her father! She hated us, with good reason, no matter how Ana tried to _smooth things over_. And then she _died_!"

Winter froze, gazing at her old teammate in shock. She'd never seen Drizzella lose her composure like that before.

A moment later, the Intelligence Agent realized what she'd done and slid into attention. "Ma'am, I apologize for my outburst. It was unprofessional. I will accept any disciplinary punishment you see fit."

"It's fine, Drizzella," Winter assured her. She was hardly a stranger to getting worked up by family drama. But she needed definitive answers and from more than just Ana.

She pushed the tablet forward again. "I need you to tell me. Does this look like it could be a grown-up Ella?"

Drizzella looked at the image again but shook her head. "The facial structure is similar. There's a bit of her father in her nose. I can see how Ana might mistake her for Ella in her head. The month after the mission, she saw her everywhere."

"How do you know it definitely isn't her?" Winter inquired.

"Easy. The eyes."

"Her eyes?"

Drizzella chuckled bitterly. "Ma'am, Ella was our _stepsister_. She didn't share our blood. That means no yellow eyes, or gold in this person's case."

Winter scowled. "I see. Thank you for your time, Agent Tremaine. Dismissed."

"Thank you, ma'am," she replied. Drizzella made to leave, but her hand paused as she clasped the door handle. "Winter… I'm sorry we used your sister. I promise you, no matter what the media spin is, we were there watching her back."

The Specialist Commander cracked a small grin. "I had no doubts about that. COMMAND ESR may be a paranoid lunatic, but she wouldn't risk an asset like Weiss against half the White Fang alone."

Drizzella matched her smirk. "She is quite the spitfire. Part of me is surprised she hasn't jumped Fullbuster's bones yet."

"Ugh, I order you not to put that image in my mind."

"As you wish, ma'am."

Winter was immensely proud that her sister had made such good friends, both at Beacon and in Fairy Tail, but she'd rather not think of her getting that close, no matter how trustworthy Fullbuster was. Whether her next battle was against father or Salem or some other mystical threat, she had faith that Weiss would have allies a plenty to help her through the fight.

Which left her free to do her duty. General Ironwood had placed his faith in her, charged her with caring for Fria. And when the elderly woman finally passed, which could be any day now, she would take up the burden of the Winter Maiden herself. It would paint a target on her back. Salem's forces, her Gates, would stop at nothing to claim her life.

She would not flee from that battle. Someone must take the burden, and she was at least trained to fight such battles. Other than Fairy Tail wizards, they had no other way to muster magic to contend with the Queen, other than…

No… it couldn't be…

"Drizzella," she muttered. "What color were Ella's eyes, exactly?"

The Agent raised an eyebrow. "Silver. Why do you ask?"

Winter nodded. "No reason."

Drizzella shrugged and exited the room, leaving the Schnee Specialist with her thoughts.

Silver-Eyes. Just like Ruby Rose. Ella Tremaine wielded immense power, and it made sense why General Ironwood had approved of her training even if he had been displeased by her kidnapping. A wizard capable of smiting an army of Grimm with a glance was an asset they could not afford to lose, no matter what ethical compromises haunted their consciences.

And yet, General Ironwood had only been made aware of the kidnapping _after_ it was already done. So, COMMAND ESR and Eleanor couldn't have known about Ella's significance unless… they knew about magic.

She marched out of the room and made for the elevator. The General needed to be informed.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

Arthur Watts whistled as he floated into the dark recesses of his Mantle hideout. He stalked through the darkness until he came to a simple rugged chair set before a highly advanced computer, his own design of course. He did not work with anything less than the best.

His system flared to life with a soft hum. He connected a cable to his scroll and downloaded his newly acquired information inside.

With a few flicks of his keys, he compiled everything into an encrypted message and sent it to his ally along with a simple message.

" _Operation Seeing Red is a complete success. From the point of origin, I was able to bypass Pietro's upgraded defenses and access the military's central grid. The Black Queen Virus awaits its sovereign's command."_

He chuckled a bit at that. Cinder may have postured at being the Black Queen, but even she knew the title belonged to her teacher. How fitting that while their Fall Maiden had used a prototype to cripple Beacon, the Gate of the Maiden would use the complete version to take Atlas.

He waited a few moments until her reply.

" _And the secondary objective?"_

Watts smirked.

" _Also, a complete success. The Winter Maiden's location and identity are ours."_

Again, a few seconds and he received his reply.

" _Excellent work, Watts. Now we move on to Phase Two."_

The good doctor, the Gate of the Goat, grinned.

All too easy.

* * *

 **The aftermath of the White Fang's raid plays out. Weiss has the public adulation she aimed for, but her encounter with Adam has sent her on a tunnel-visioned warpath. she manages to trick her father's greatest shame out of him and lays bare her very risky threat/bluff. And when Schnees war, Atlas holds its breath. What comes next will shake the very foundations of the kingdom.**

 **Meanwhile, Winter finds out a very interesting detail about the supposedly dead third Tremaine sister (I fully expect most of you know where I'm going with this but I will refrain from stating it outright just incase).**

 **An extra huge thank you to my patrons: ArcherMcMuffin, Gregg Tracton, Keith Traction, Annaya Chan, Nora Okonus, Paula mandel, KefkaesqueXIII, Christian Howard, and SanyaBane.**

 **Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!**

 **Go Forth and Conquer!**


	27. Chapter 26

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 **Beta-ed by xenosaiyan**

* * *

 _The last time Oscar had witnessed the memories of Ozma, his past life had been in the prime of his life. He'd been laughing it up in a packed bar, having songs sung about him, and smiling like the sun would never stop shining on him. Even when Leo and Virgo had recruited him to defeat the mysterious Underworld King, he'd proven himself every bit the knight in shining armor he was said to be, marching into the demon's lair without an ounce of fear._

 _Now, he was running for his life._

" _Shit, shit, shit, shit!" The staff-wielding wizard, now missing a good chunk of his armor and bleeding from a cut above his left eye, muttered frantically. He dashed through halls of black stone, grisly gargoyles casting shadows that seemed to reach out and claw at the mage. Every few feet, a pack of rabid demons leapt out from them and actually did._

 _Ozma ducked under the beasts' fangs, lashing out with his staff and knocking the creatures away. He somersaulted to gain some distance and tugged his weapon back._

" _ **Flashforward!**_ _"_

 _His emerald, chipped and missing about half the mass it had possessed in the last memory, screeched through the hall. Just like before, it split into a thousand different jewels and tore into the horde of demons, shredding them into chunks of decaying meat._

 _Just as they did, heavy rumble sounded from the down corridor. A massive tangle of thorns surged into the hall, stone crumbled from the sheer size of the bramble. Ozma's emeralds set to work, smashing through the wicked plants as fast as they could but unlike the ones outside, these vines were too thick, the smallest of them as big as a horse was long. This was healthy foliage, green and strong, capable of crushing a man's spine if the opportunity presented itself._

 _Which meant it was quite a shock when Ozma charged them head-on. He bobbed and weaved through the dark green storm, finally jumping up and slamming his hands against the stalk._

" _ **Wither!**_ _" He screamed, his palms dancing with magic._

 _Sure enough, at his command, the vines began to lose their luster. Where but a moment before they were vibrant and green, now they instantly shriveled into dry, brown husks. The emeralds ripped into them and tore the decayed thorns apart._

 _Ozma landed on his feet, breathing hard, but not panting. He glared ahead, heavy footsteps approaching from down the hall. A long shadow stretched across the stone._

" _Mard Geer despises this wretched business," a smooth, oily voice slinked across the walls, as if inspected a speck of dirt caught in its fingernail. "Dealing with humans is beneath my kind. No etherious with any dignity should deem to play with such insects."_

" _Oh, so humans are insects, but Celestial Spirits are just fine?" Ozma taunted, regaining his breath. "You demons sure have strange standards."_

" _They are radiant beings, as are their Umbral counterparts. Inferior to us, but not completely without merit. Your kind on the other hand…"_

 _The shadowed figure stepped into view and Oscar gasped. His legs trembled, so much so that if he was actually present before the demon, he doubted he could have remained standing._

 _The creature was tall, larger than Ozma by at least three heads and covered in nightmarish black armor. His mask was set in a haunting expression, his mouth fused shut with piercing dark eyes staring out from above. From his back, a pair of chipped purple wings flanked the rest of his body, his hands hidden within a pair of clawed gauntlets. If death, horrid, panicked, ruthless death, had a face, the devil before them would more than suffice._

 _Even still, the monster was not uninjured. He'd strode down the hall slowly because his right knee was bent near backwards, so far that he must have been putting himself through agony by standing on it, even a constant sickening squelch indicated that it was already healing itself. His leathery wings were peppered with holes about the size of Ozma's emerald while the tips of his gauntlets were thick with rust._

 _The demon glared at the time wizard. "… you are vexing to the utmost."_

 _Ozma shrugged, cracking a cocky smile. "You're not exactly a pile of sunshine and rainbows either, you know. And unlike you, I don't have an army of minions to throw at whatever's scaring me. Or a fancy second form."_

" _Mard Geer does not fear an ant."_

" _Of course you don't. But what does that make you then?" Ozma taunted. "After all, I've killed enough of your kind to know Zeref was human, for all the crap people talk about him being immortal. You're a human's creation. An ant's creation."_

 _The demon, Mard Geer, hissed. A ghastly flash of white light sparked across his armor, the wail of a dying scream seeping through the air._

" _Our lord, our father, created us with a single purpose. To return to him," he declared, the sound's pitch only rising. "You human wretches laze about without purpose, without drive. But we have duty, destiny. Every action that I take, that any true etherious will ever take, has been to return to Zeref and see his final wish done."_

" _Return to him?" Ozma hefted his staff into a combat stance. "I can arrange that."_

" _You will not live to do so," Mard Geer sneered. "_ _ **Memento Mori!**_ _"_

 _The flash of light exploded off of his armor. Hundreds of dark spirits erupted out of the glow and rushed through the hall, their ghostly wails tearing through Oscar's eardrums. A putrid yellow gas seeped from the demon completely consuming the hall._

" _This is the ultimate curse! Derived from the sealed power of E.N.D. that will burn even gods to ash, this power will not just kill you, you arrogant insect. When it is through with you, not even your soul will remain. Your existence will be erased from eternity itself."_

" _I take it that's what it's supposed to do?"_

" _What?"_

" _ **Flashforward: Decay**_ _."_

 _Ozma raised his staff and the emerald danced, tracing a shining magic circle through the air in front of him. The glowing sigil blazed a beacon of hope in the dark castle hall, the hellish mist halting immediately when it touched the light. In barely an instant, the gas faded away._

" _How long have you been working on this? A few months? A year?" Ozma snorted. "Take it from someone who made his own magic, pretty much every spell needs a few trial runs before you use it in the field. Just to make sure the ethernano holds together right, does what you want it to do."_

" _This is not some degenerate magic given from bastard gods! This is a curse!"_

" _Call it what you want. At best, this thing would have paralyzed me for a few minutes," Ozma chided. His face suddenly became as hard as stone. "Besides, whether magic, curse, flesh, metal, or stone, everything fades to time eventually. And I can make that moment come a whole lot sooner."_

 _Mard Geer snarled. "Including your own."_

 _The demon moved, or at least Oscar thought he did. All the boy saw was a vivid shadow and suddenly Ozma had crashed through half a dozen walls, Mard Geer's claw around his throat and his other hand raised to carve out his heart._

 _Fortunately, the emerald whipped through the air and slammed into the demon's eye, causing his grip to falter for the briefest of moments. Just long enough for Ozma to draw a haggard breath._

" _ **Arc of Time: Double Accel!**_ _"_

 _The emerald wizard's body blurred with vibrations and darted away from Mard Geer, his jewel streaking behind him. The demon roared and gave chase._

 _Oscar's surroundings ran together and before long he was standing in an enormous throne room, bordered in suits of demonic armor and draped in resplendent banners and finery. However, even in such a grand auditorium, there were three objects stood out above all. To the left of the throne was a giant purple crystal, a field of crackling energy spreading out into air, likely powering the dome surrounding the castle. To the right of the throne was a large mound of churning thorns, surrounded by complex machinery that the farm boy had no hope of understanding. Still beneath the vines, a strong but suppressed golden glow pulsed from within, a woman's voice incessantly chattering from under the cocoon._

 _Yet, despite everything in his mind screaming at him to keep his eyes on the vines and the ungodly reservoir of power suppressed beneath it, he couldn't help but glance at the throne itself. And the eldritch tome that sat upon it, three golden letters staring back him. E.N.D._

 _The door to the throne room smashed open. Oscar whirled around just as his past life stumbled into the room, a hand clenching his chest over his heart._

" _Great plan, Ozma," the time wizard muttered. "Use the spell that you haven't gotten to work without shaving off your lifespan. Why not just take your own advice?"_

 _He staggered across the throne room, making for the violet crystal, but Mard Geer rushed in from behind. The demon snatched the great and powerful hero by the throat and rammed him into the floor, summoning a mass of thorns that finally restrained his opponent's floating emerald._

" _Did you really think I would let you destroy my lacrima?" the monster gloated. "The Celestial Spirit King shall never enter this castle. His daughter is my daughter now, my creation that will serve Lord Zeref with all her soul."_

" _Quite the interesting plan," Ozma choked. However, he flashed a cheeky smile a second later. "One problem though. Just like you demons have your singular purpose to serve your daddy or whatever, I take my job as a hero very seriously, despite outward appearances. And the job wasn't to destroy the lacrima."_

 _Mard Geer cocked his head to the side before his eyes widened. He whirled around to the mound of vines, noticing the plants severing bit by bit, the other half of the emerald that had been missing since Oscar arrived shearing the thorns apart. The golden light had been contained within began to grow brighter and brighter._

" _No!" the demon roared._

" _Thanks for going on that merry chase with me," Ozma grinned. "Gave my spell time to work."_

 _Mard Geer brought down a claw on the time wizard, but Oscar's past life raised his staff and a dome of emerald energy crackled around him. The demon's gauntlet cracked against the defense, repelled. He might have done something else, launched another attack that would have been repelled or summoned some scant remnant of his minions that hadn't already been slain, but the cocoon of thorns completely shattered before he had a chance._

 _The golden light blazed from within, the cut vines crumbling to ash under its wrathful glow. Its source rose soon after._

 _Oscar held his breath, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ozma do the same._

 _It was a woman, ragged and wounded, but beautiful nonetheless, her flowing blond hair spun like gold even with the dirt filling her locks. She shot to her feet, clothed in a tattered white robe, the brilliant shine emanating from battered skin. Her light blue eyes, the color of the sky on a sunny day, narrowed at Mard Geer, the wrath of a storm churning within them._

" _Sitara!" the demon shouted._

 _The woman thrust her hands forward, the golden light coalescing into thousands upon thousands of miniature stars. Veins of pure darkness etched themselves over her face._

" _ **Meteor Metria!**_ _"_

 _Mard Geer's eyes widened with terror and the blinding light consumed Oscar's vision._

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

Oscar shot up in his bed, panting hard. Sweat poured down his forehead.

" _I told you not to go looking through those memories,"_ Ozpin scolded them. _"You'll eventually absorb them all, but intentionally seeking them will do you no good."_

"Sorry, I just wanted to some of the Arc of Time in action," Oscar explained. "It was amazing. You were amazing. You were toying that monster."

" _And because I toyed with, I nearly died,"_ Ozpin lectured him. _"I was reckless, childish. The Arc of Time cannot be used directly on the human body without straining the heart. It is a foolish technique that will at best shave off your lifespan."_

Oscar raised an eyebrow. "What do you care about that? No offense, but it doesn't really matter how long I live to you."

" _It matters to you. Therefore, it matters to me."_

The farm boy wasn't sure how to respond to that. But he had enough of a mystical connection to the old wizard to know his words were the truth. Somehow.

"Who was that woman?" Oscar inquired, just to change the subject. "That Mard Geer seemed more scared of her than you."

…

…

…

"Ozpin?"

" _She is long dead. I suggest you forget about her."_

"What does that—"

"Oscar! Professor Ozpin!" Pyrrha's voice chimed in through the door, her knocks resonating through the wood. "Are you up? Mom has breakfast ready!"

" _Oh, look at that, we must go get the pancakes and forgo this conversation immediately."_

Oscar scowled. "We are not done with this conversation."

" _Pancakes, my boy. If you won't drink coffee, you can't deny them."_

"Ugh. You're not wrong."

" _They have strawberries."_

Oscar sighed and hopped onto his feet, briefly pausing to stare at his own body. He'd never been unfit, farming was not easy work, but four months being personally trained by Pyrrha and Scarlet had left him more muscular than he'd ever dreamed. Not buff by any means, but a lithe and defined physique with plenty of strength.

The Nikos family may have believed that he really was Ozpin's reincarnation, but they were still being more than generous. Four months of room and board (he'd brought maybe three shirts with him to Mistral and they'd given him a closet big enough for fifty), and all they'd asked for in return was magic lessons, which was really the former headmaster's area of expertise. Oscar did his best to help around the house and earn his keep that way, but he still couldn't help but feel like a freeloader. Granted, they were training for a war, so he'd be paying them back in the future, but far-off life and death struggles didn't really fill his current feelings of being a parasite.

Still, wallowing in it wouldn't help anyone. He threw on some actual clothes and opened the door to his room, ready to start the new day.

Only to find Pyrrha leaning against the wall, bags under her eyes and a yawn on her lips. The up and coming wizard huntress hadn't even put on her combat armor, still decked out in baggy Pumpkin Pete pajamas.

"Morn… morning," Pyrrha yawned.

"Morning," Oscar said. "Are you alright?"

"Huh? Oh, yes, I'm fine," Pyrrha assured him. "I just stayed up a bit later than I probably should have. I think I've got Grand Chariot down though. We can try it out later today and then move on to Altairis—"

"Pyrrha!" Scarlet's voice shouted up from the first floor. "Are you trying to convince your professor to teach you that spell I told you that you're not allowed to learn?!"

Pyrrha paled. "Um, no mother! We were just talking about… um…"

"Taking the day off!" Oscar finished. "We've been working so hard lately and we really should make sure we don't push too hard!"

"An excellent idea!" Scarlet concurred. "I'll make double the pancakes to start it off!"

"Thank you, mother!" Pyrrha called, before immediately sighing. "She's going to be the one to eat those extra pancakes."

"Probably," Oscar agreed. He might have been a growing boy, as his aunt insisted, but Scarlet Nikos devoured more food in one sitting than he ever could. Especially if that food included strawberries in any way. He turned to Pyrrha. "You really should take the day off though. You look like you barely slept."

Pyrrha shot him a reassuring smile. "I told you, I'm fine. Just a little…" Another yawn interrupted her.

' _I sensed her magic for hours after you went to bed,'_ Ozpin informed him. _'I've never seen anyone learn a spell on Grand Chariot's level so quickly, but she's going to burn herself out if she keeps up this pace. Suggesting a day off was very wise of you.'_

Oscar sent a mental thanks for the compliment but kept his focus on Pyrrha. "Why do you want to learn Altairis so badly anyway? From what Ozpin told me, it's a pretty nasty spell."

Which was an understatement if there ever was one. Altairis was primarily a Heavenly Body Magic spell, but it also contained hints of Death Magic, enough to have been forbidden in Ozma's time. If done improperly, it was a vortex of death that could spawn a minute black hole, and even when performed correctly, the spell became an unstoppable sphere of destruction that crushed anything in its path.

Scarlet had been present when Ozpin had told Pyrrha about it and had immediately forbidden Pyrrha from learning it. When the Invincible Girl had protested, the discussion had devolved into the first outright argument Oscar had seen between the mother and daughter. However, Pyrrha's inexperience with being against her parent and Scarlet's surprising vehemence on the matter had led to younger Nikos dropping the matter.

Oscar wasn't exactly sure why Scarlet was so against Pyrrha learning the spell. She'd had nothing against Grand Chariot and that could level a house. Perhaps it tied into the mysterious Fairy Tail tattoo she had on her arm. Ozpin seemed to have a lot of theories about that he was keeping to himself, only once asking her if the name Erza Scarlet meant anything to her.

It hadn't.

Either way, when Pyrrha had returned to the headmaster behind her mother's back and requested to be taught the spell anyway, Ozpin had agreed, though he'd insisted she at least be able to control Grand Chariot first before then even began. The inventor of the Arc of Time was knowledgeable enough about Heavenly Body Magic to teach it and was eager for Pyrrha to become as strong as possible, but he wasn't blind to the risks if his champion lost control of such a spell.

Pyrrha flinched and glanced down at her empty hands. "It's powerful. Salem's forces could show up any day. I can't ignore a weapon that strong."

"But your mom—"

"Means well. But she wasn't at the Fall," Pyrrha whispered, clenching her fists. "Cinder killed Ozpin. I couldn't do anything against her. And that was when she was just a maiden. Now she's probably a Gate, an Eclipse Etherious. I can't let her hurt anyone else. Not again. Never again."

Oscar gulped; a bit frightened by his friend's unusual intensity. He'd seen what a regular Etherious was capable of in Ozma's memories, so he knew there was plenty of merit to her worries, but still. It was unsettling to a girl who was usually so calm and pleasant filled with so much anger.

' _Ms. Nikos experienced something extremely trying at Beacon,'_ Ozpin soothed him. _'It is natural that such an event would bring her focus.'_

" _I'd call wanting to use Death Magic a bit more than focus."_

' _True. We will have to take care that her drive does not become an obsession. She will not be able to help anyone if she becomes reckless.'_

" _That's what you're concerned about?"_

' _We are at war, Oscar. It is what I must be concerned about. Pyrrha is not wrong. Salem's forces could appear at any moment and if we are not prepared, millions could die. She must remember to measure herself, but her drive is not unwarranted.'_

He wasn't wrong. But Oscar couldn't help but wish his mind companion took a bit more of their friends' welfare into account. After all, his aunt always said it didn't matter how determined a dog was to keep wolves out of the chicken coop if it gave itself rabies in the quest.

Guess he'd have to do his best to temper his friend's determination. She was teaching him how to fight. The least he could do was help her remember she didn't always have to.

"Well, we should head down for now," Oscar said, pulling Pyrrha along. "Salem's not going to attack until after we've eaten the pancakes."

Pyrrha chuckled. "Let's hope mother's left us some."

Oscar smiled. The battle with Salem was their responsibility, but for now, it wasn't their fight. Her forces might have been causing chaos somewhere else on Remnant, but they couldn't do anything about that. All they could do was eat their breakfast and pray for the poor souls who did have to deal with her madness.

* * *

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"Oniyuri?" Wendy read off the ivy-covered signpost. She turned to the rest of the group. "Do you guys know anything about this place?"

Ruby, Jaune, and Nora shook their heads, while Ren glanced away from them.

Qrow sighed, scratching the back of his head. "This place was pretty much Anima's version of Mountain Glenn, kid."

Carla raised an eyebrow. "And what is Mountain Glenn?"

"Right, you wouldn't know…" Qrow realized, facepalming. "Let me put it this way. On Remnant, outside the kingdoms' capitals and a few crucial trade checkpoints like Argus or Higanbana, there aren't a whole lot of settlements. And those that do exist are usually small villages. More people means more negativity means more Grimm."

"Which means more resources are needed to defend people from them," Wendy finished. That seemed simple enough. They'd passed through plenty of towns on their journey, some populated and some… devastated. None of them had come close to being anywhere near the size of Crocus, or even Magnolia.

Qrow nodded. "The kingdoms, well, the kingdoms except for Vacuo, have periodically made attempts to establish larger cities. Some of them, like Argus, succeed. Others… most, don't. Mountain Glenn was Vale's most recent attempt. This place was Mistral's."

"Not exactly."

Everyone turned to Ren, though the green-robed huntsmen couldn't bring himself to face them. Instead, he staggered over to a listing garden gate. "Oniyuri didn't have any support from the kingdom. A group of Mistral's richest citizens lost faith in the council after a popular member was assassinated by the others' supporters."

"Right, I remember that," Qrow mused. "Ben Autumn, right?"

"Maybe. I was too young to remember," Ren said. "I suppose it doesn't matter. The dissenters created multiple settlements. Oniyuri… Kuroyuri, others like them. They'd hoped that one day they might become their own kingdoms, a brighter future for Anima. At least, that's what my parents said. Before it came."

"It?" Carla noted. "Singular?"

"I thought it took a horde of Grimm to overrun a settlement," Wendy said.

"Usually," Qrow stated. "Not always."

"The Nuckelavee," Jaune muttered.

"A what?" Ruby said.

Nora's eyes widened. "Where did you hear that name?"

"A guy at Higanbana," Jaune revealed. "He said it had been ravaging the countryside for years. Could one Grimm really survive that long?"

"If it was a Nuckelavee? Easily," Qrow scowled.

Ren brushed the dirt off the top of the fence, revealing a set of vicious claw marks. His hand clenched into a fist. Nora rushed over to him and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Their gazes met, and for a moment the tension in Ren's body seemed to lessen. But only for a moment. Then, the ninja shifted his partner's hand off and turned away, his knuckles white with rage.

Nora's face fell. She opened her lips to speak, but no words came out.

Wendy frowned and looked all around. The town was huge, nearly half the size of Magnolia. But where her home was vibrant, full of flowers and shining buildings of stone, Oniyuri was a ghost town. Some of the buildings were destroyed or damaged, but most were just unfinished. Empty. As if the people who had been building them had just vanished one day. Only the scattered bloodstains suggested otherwise.

It was only at that moment that Wendy finally understood what kind of world Remnant was. Earthland had darkness, it had despair and treachery, but there was always a sense of hope, of light. Even at their darkest, even when she'd thought she was about to die destroying FACE, things felt like they would get better, that all their struggles and sacrifices, no matter how painful, would be worth it. That their guild, their family, would live on.

That feeling did not exist on Remnant. On Remnant, people hid behind natural boundaries and built walls to keep out monsters that would slaughter them all on instinct, not even aware of the witch masterminding it all. And when they tried to push forward, to improve their world for generations to come? Those same monsters slaughtered them, without fail. Leaving behind only empty houses and traumatized children.

There was no hope on Remnant. Only the fight.

"Let's get out of here," Jaune said, stalking away. "This place gives me the creeps—"

An unholy shriek pierced the air. A flock of ravens followed the cry with a chorus of caws as they fluttered into away into the grey sky.

The party fell into ready stances. Ruby deployed Crescent Rose, Qrow and Jaune drew Harbinger and Crocea Mors, and Wendy strapped her bucklers to each wrist.

Ren and Nora however, froze, their backs ramrod straight. Nora had enough sense to deploy Magnhild, but her partner's pink eyes were wide with dread, his entire body shaking.

"Not again," he muttered. "Not again."

"What again?" Ruby asked.

"Ah!"

Wendy whirled around. "Carla!"

Her Exceed partner had fallen to her knees, her eyes wide. Both she and Qrow rushed to Carla's side.

"What's wrong?" Wendy asked.

"I see… I see," Carla muttered. "No. No, that's not possible!"

"What's not possible?" Qrow inquired. "Did you see a future vision?"

Carla raised her head to speak, but another shriek ripped through their ears first, everyone flinching away.

An unfinished house at the edge of the plaza suddenly exploded, broken plaster and splintered beams flying everywhere. And from the cloud of dust, it emerged.

All the Grimm Wendy had seen so far looked somewhat like creatures she'd encountered before. A Beowolf was a wolf, a Geist was a spirit, even the Wyvern at Beacon had been a twisted version of a dragon. The monstrosity before her now had no such similarities. It was a twisted fusion of rider and horse, the lower beast ten feet tall with stout legs and ribcage of open bone. The 'human' half was lanky, almost lackadaisical, but every few moments seemed to twitch in just the wrong way to get the Sky Dragon Slayer's stomach churning. Its gaping crimson maw, the source of the horrific screeches, was stitched over like the bars of a jail, a prison that no victim could escape from.

The Grimm locked its eyes on them all, its hoofs nervously shuffling under it.

"That's a Nuckelavee?" Jaune asked.

Qrow nodded. "That's it. Ugly looking bastard. Be careful. This thing has taken down huntsmen teams before."

"But it's never faced wizard huntsmen," Ruby boasted, her eyes already beginning to glow. "This'll be over quick."

"Wait," Jaune said, narrowing his eyes. "Why isn't it attacking?"

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

Ren's roar startled them all, the green-robed huntsmen charging blindly towards the monster. He didn't even bother drawing Stormflower, just setting his hands ablaze with white light, Crash Magic flooding from his palms.

Nora threw out her hand as if to catch him, but beyond his reckless rage, Wendy wasn't sure what the problem was. Ruby's magic might have had a lot more ethernano to work with and a natural advantage over Grimm, but Crash Magic was one of the most versatile yet brutally powerful magic there was. If Ren got his hands on the Nuckelavee, it wouldn't last long.

Which made it all the more horrifying when a gunshot cracked through the air and smacked Ren to the ground. He went tumbling across the stone, lightning spasming over his body.

"Ren!" Nora screamed, dashing forward.

Unfortunately, whatever was holding the Nuckelavee back disappeared as soon as the shot was fired. The monster's gangly arms thrust forward, forcing the redheaded huntress to lunge to the side to avoid the assault. However, another round of bullets rained down upon her while she was off-balance, obliterating the surrounding stone and battering her with rubble.

"Where's that sniper fire coming from?" Qrow roared, hefting Harbinger up to shield Ruby. "We need to take cover before—" His eyes widened, and his head whipped up to the sky.

Wendy felt it too, her gaze following his to the clouds. Building up in the heavens was an enormous mass of magical energy. One that she recognized the signature of all too well.

"Get down!" she shouted, her hair busting out of its twin tails and transforming into the wild pink mane of her Dragonforce. The others darted for cover as she'd ordered while the Dragon Slayer took in a deep breath.

She'd need every ounce.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

Wendy had gone Dragonforce. How interesting. His partner had mentioned that she'd used it against Cinder, but that was when she'd had a maiden's leakage to feed of off. He wasn't sure she'd be able to do it with only Remnant's scant ethernano. Nonetheless, it wouldn't last long, the form increased her magical output, but that, in turn, required more fuel, and she couldn't eat air while defending against him.

That was the thing about snipers. Put them in the right position and they could hit everything on the battlefield while nothing could hit them. And given he could fly higher than any of them except maybe Ruby could shoot, he could practically rain down potshots with impunity. His favorite type of fighting!

But he wasn't fighting to kill them. If he was, he wouldn't have bothered luring the Nuckelavee here from its lair or letting them know he was there at all. He would have just put a lightning dust round right between Qrow Branwen's eyes before he even knew he was under attack. No, his partner wanted to test Wendy, Carla, Ruby, and their friends, see what they were capable of on Remnant.

Fortunately, one of the things he'd learned to appreciate on Remnant was that practically everything doubled as a gun. Sometimes more than one. The Buster Sword the Queen and Watts had custom made for him certainly could.

Already, his weapon was transforming into its second, far more impressive form. No longer a sleek sniper rifle, now he held a gargantuan artillery piece, a mass of black energy massing at the end of its barrel while a sizable lacrima rested on its butt. While powerful, it would take his rifle a minute to shoot again and this function would need a half hour to recharge, but it was nothing Fairy Tail wizards shouldn't have been able to handle.

And he very much wanted to see another Fairy Tail wizard again.

"Jupiter Magic Cannon," he smirked cheekily. "Fire."

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

Ruby could barely see the black speck in the sky that Uncle Qrow and Wendy were so terrified of, but she certainly felt the gargantuan mass of energy gathering around it. When her friend had gone Dragonforce and commanded them to flee, she'd had no objections. She and Carla had dashed over to the battlefield to grab Ren and Nora while her uncle had held off the Nuckelavee.

The stockpile of energy above gave way and an enormous black beam of power plummeted towards them.

Wendy pulled back her head, her cheeks puffed with breath. " **Sky Dragon Roar!** "

The cyclone shot up into the sky, colliding head-on with the pitch-black beam. The wind raged, splinters of static flaring off the clash, the shockwave shaving the roofs off the higher buildings, plaster and wood flying all over Oniyuri.

However, the stalemate could not last. Despite her will, Wendy had only the ethernano around her to call upon and that was nowhere near thick enough to keep up the necessary power. Her Dragonforce flickered out, her wild mane falling into a curtain of aqua hair as her tornado was cut down to a third of its full glory.

The black beam, showing no such weakness, plowed right through it.

"Wendy!" Ruby screamed.

" **Holy Barrier: Quartet Refraction!** "

Ruby's eyes widened and her gaze glanced towards Jaune, who stood side-by-side with Wendy. His hands were thrust towards the sky and he conjured four of his shining _ankh_ barriers in the black beam's path.

At first, the red hooded huntress wondered what he was thinking. His barriers were pretty strong but not enough to hold out against something that could stalemate a Dragonforce powered blast. He wouldn't be able to halt the attack.

But then she noticed that he wasn't trying to. He hadn't positioned his shields as a head-on defense to tank the full force of the attack. They were positioned at the edges of the blast, all of them set at a steep angle. It was like the armor Atlesian Paladins used, not meant to weather a shell's strike, but to redirect the force away from it, allowing thinner armor to stop more power than thicker defenses could head-on. And since the beam must have already used a decent chunk of its power already, maybe—

Her hopes were dashed instantly. The beam struck Jaune's shields and blew through them as easily as Wendy's roar, nodes of wind and light scattering through the air.

But the added defense was not without boon. While the holy barriers hadn't stopped the beam, they had slightly altered its course. The blast that would have struck and obliterated them all was instead diverted and landed behind where they were positioned, closest to the pair that had defied it.

Unfortunately, an attack of that size wouldn't go quietly. A massive shockwave erupted out from the point of impact. Wendy, Jaune, and the rest of the huntsmen group were sent flying, and even the Nuckelavee was thrown off its feet. The unfinished houses crumbled to dust, a cloud of plaster and stone sent rippling out into the forest as the remains of Oniyuri were leveled.

Ruby groaned, her ears ringing from the blast. She forced herself to her feet, taking care to shield Nora beneath her.

"Ugh," the hammer-wielder moaned, leaning against her weapon. "Wha… what happened?"

"I don't know," Ruby panted, frantically glancing around, failing to locate her uncle, her friends, or even the Nuckelavee through the smog. "Magic, somehow."

"From the sky?" Nora asked. "Why didn't we hear it? A bullhead should have made more noise."

"Because there was no bullhead," Carla declared, her transformed form stumbling towards the girls, Ren leaning on her shoulder. The pseudo-faunus girl's eyes were wide and confused. "That was a Jupiter Cannon. Why would he fire at us?"

"He?" Ruby noted. "Did your vision show you who it is?"

"Me."

The four whirled around to the new voice, a black blur cutting through the dust cloud, moving faster than they could track. Suddenly there was a towering cloaked figure among them, his gigantic crimson and grey sword streaking for Carla and Ren.

The huntsman and Exceed dove to the side, the steel barely sliding over their heads. Nora growled and swung Magnhild around, her hammer screaming for the attacker's chest.

There was a puff of magic and smoke and the hammer struck only empty cloak, its target now significantly smaller, as was his weapon.

A set of black bat wings spawned from the tiny figure's back in a manner Ruby found eerily familiar. With a single flap of his wings, the figure zoomed behind Nora, bursting back to its original size and bringing down his sword, a Buster Sword, on the huntress' back.

Ruby activated his semblance and burst into rose petals, catching the sword strike on Crescent Rose's shaft.

The figure smirked, sparks flying from their clashing steel. "Good to see you again, Ruby. Glad to see you haven't lost your touch."

The huntress' eyes narrowed, noting the dark blue fur covering her foe's hands and the lower half of his face. "Your wings, your transformation. You're an Exceed. But, you're putting out more than magic. Something… wrong, like Kyouka. Who are you?"

The figure sighed. "You figured all that out, but not the final stretch? Guess I'll have to push you a little further!"

He shoved Ruby back, slamming her into Nora. Yet, instead of continuing his attack, he shrank back to his smaller size and jetted back, the fog parting from his sheer speed.

Ruby scrambled to her knees. When she saw where the figure had gone to, her eyes widened.

Wendy and Jaune were laid out amidst the rubble, both badly battered with their eyes closed. And the figure stood above them, his sword hanging ominously above them.

"Are you fast enough?" he challenged.

"No!" Carla screamed. "Don't!"

"Wendy!" Ruby yelled. She burst into petals, but the blade was already falling, its tip streaking for the Sky Dragon Slayer's chest.

Only to bounce off the shield of Crocea Mors, thrust in its path at the last possible moment.

"Oh?" the figure remarked, a wide smile crossing his face at the sight of Jaune, battered and barely able to even kneel, lunged protectively over Wendy. "Your purpose is as strong as he'd hoped."

Whatever else he might have said was cut off when Ruby emerged from her semblance, Crescent Rose swinging for his head. The figure raised its sword to meet the strike, the collision of metal ringing through the air.

Ruby grunted as they both struggled for purchase against the other but smiled when she caught a flash of white flying over her shoulder.

Carla's foot smashed into the cloaked figure's face, her flying kick forcing him to stagger back. The faunus looking Exceed's eyes were livid, quickly unleashing a flurry of follow-up strikes, her legs raining down blow after blow on the other cat.

Unfortunately, their attacker was fast, very fast, even in his larger form. In the time it took Carla to pull back one leg to let the other strike, he'd already raised his sword and caught her new strike on the flat of his steel.

But those sparse few instants were all Ruby needed to jump in again, this time with a familiar white glow spreading over her scythe. An instant later, Tulip's Aegis appeared on her left arm. The figure moved his sword to defend against it, but the shield's shorter-range allowed Ruby to better leverage its weight and bash the sword aside. Which left her opponent wide open for the weapon she'd summoned to her right hand.

Waning Thorn, a short rapier with a heavy spiral blade, more a spearhead without a shaft than a mere sword, thrust towards the figure's face. His body might have been able to shrink back down in an instant, but his head had to remain in the same place, or he'd choke himself whenever he changed. She'd strike him right between the eyes and deal a devastating blow to his aura.

However, while he did shift to his smaller body as she'd expected, she hadn't accounted for the fact that his head shrunk slightly in his new form. His more compact skull and neck allowed him to duck out of his cloak entirely, Waning Thorn plunging right into the fabric and ripping it apart.

The Exceed dashed away into the smoke, standing right at the edge of their restricted vision. He landed on his feet, no worse for wear, his face finally revealed in full.

Ruby's eyes widened. She glanced at Carla, only to find her frozen as well, her hands trembling.

Nora and Ren came up beside them, protectively hovering over Jaune and the still unconscious Wendy.

The Exceed clapped, genuinely applauding them. "Amazing! Truly amazing! It's been so long, but you, my dear Carla, have only become more graceful and beautiful. I would have gladly waited another fifty years to see you again."

Nora raised an eyebrow. "Do… do you guys know him?"

The Exceed rolled his eyes. "Of course they do. After all," he turned around, revealing the green Fairy Tail mark etched into his back, "we're family."

That was the final confirmation. The fur was several shades darker, his teeth sharper, and he had curse energy mixed in with his magic. But his face was exactly the small and his tattoo undeniable evidence.

Carla's vision, her disbelief… the proof had come all too soon.

"Happy," the white Exceed muttered in horror.

The dark blue cat's smirk grew to split his face in two. "Aye, sir!"

* * *

 **Ah, this is one of the moments I was really looking forward putting to page when coming up with the story. It changed a bit from conception, but that final moment and line were exactly what I was hoping for.**

 **Side Note, it was really interesting to write Mard Geer three hundred years before we see him in Fairy Tail canon. He's younger, more brash, less calculating, though much more physically powerful as he's been fighting more often. And yet, the Memento Mori curse he made, which by the Tartaros Arc was an instant kill on anyone who wasn't a Devil Slayer and still paralyzed Gray when he protected Natsu from it, is still in its development stages, allowing Ozma to pick it apart with ease.**

 **Remember to check out the TvTropes page!**

 **An extra huge thank you to my patrons: ArcherMcMuffin, Gregg Tracton, Keith Traction, Annaya Chan, Nora Okonus, Paula mandel, KefkaesqueXIII, Christian Howard, SanyaBane, and Matthew Blevins.**

 **Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!**

 **Go Forth and Conquer!**


	28. Chapter 27

**If you wish to support me and my college tuition, please check out my P a treon for future chapter summaries, story ideas and more: p a Treon.(c om) (backslash) themaster4444**

 **Beta-ed by xenosaiyan**

* * *

 _Darkness._

 _For so long… there was only darkness. Bursts of consciousness, floating in a tank of clear liquid, hooked up to tubes and tentacles._

 _And outside…_

" _The Sphere was able to stall the poison but not cure it, your grace. They're dying, both of them."_

" _No! I refuse! I will not be powerless! I will not let that White Bitch take them from me!"_

" _I… I'm sorry, your grace. The bane particles have had too long to nest—"_

" _Bane particles… bane particles cannot harm a demon. Prepare Hell's Core."_

" _My lady, they're barely alive! They'll never survive the process!"_

" _I've stored something away that will help Natsu. As for Happy…"_

 _A hand, stark white and pulsing with putrid black veins, pressed against the glass tube._

" _Happy, your partner needs you. To save you, I will have to put you through a process that could rend your very being. Be strong. Persevere. You are a Fairy Tail wizard and you must live. I will not tell the others that you are dead when I find them."_

 _Fairy Tail… partner…_

 _Natsu…_

 _He had to help… Natsu…_

 _There was pain later, agony. His body felt like every atom of its existence was being ripped apart and twisted inside out. His heart had stopped at least half a dozen times as his flesh was warped before his eyes._

 _Throughout all of it, he held on. No matter how much it hurt, no matter how much he wanted to scream but couldn't, he held on. The instance his heart stopped, he pulsed a short burst of magic through his system, forcing himself to stay conscious, stay alive. He had to stay alive, no matter what he was when it was all over._

 _He was a Fairy Tail Wizard. And Natsu needed him._

* * *

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Carla could barely make heads or tails of what was going on. When she'd seen the vision, seen _Happy_ standing before them, Buster Sword in hand, she hadn't believed it, couldn't believe it.

And then he had rained a Jupiter Cannon down on them and leveled a town, the dust and smoke of its remains still clouding the air. More importantly…

"What the hell are you doing, you fool?!" Carla roared, trying to keep the tears sequestered in her eyes. "You nearly killed Wendy with that stunt!"

The tomcat at least had the decency to look apologetic. "I'm sorry, my dear Carla. I've been asked to test you all, push you to your limits. If Jaune Arc had not intervened when he did, I would have halted my blade on my own."

"And the _Jupiter Cannon_?!"

Happy shrugged. "I knew you all could handle it. No different from any of the guild brawls."

"Wendy never participated in those, you reckless idiot!" Carla screamed, glancing back to her unconscious ward, a battered Jaune kneeling over her. "What… what happened to you?"

Happy sighed. "Well, obviously I'm a demon now."

Ruby cringed. "Yeah, it was kind of hard to miss that. Curse energy and all."

"Pretty much," Happy replied. "I don't have anything fancy like the Gates, but it does come in handy. Remnant doesn't have as much ethernano as it used to, and I need to supplement my magic somehow."

Used to? Did Remnant used to have more ethernano than its paltry amount? But how would Happy know that… unless…

"How long?" Carla whispered. "How long has it been since you were released from your Fairy Sphere?"

Happy shot her a sad smile. "Like I said, fifty years. What can I say? A demon's lifespan runs centuries. I'm still pretty youthful."

Fifty years. He'd been on Remnant, working for _Salem_ if his mention of the Gates meant anything, for fifty years. And if his Fairy Sphere was released, that meant…

"Where's Natsu?" Ruby inquired. "Wendy said Lucy sealed you in the same sphere to save you. If you're out, then where's he?"

Happy flinched away, melancholy overtaking his expression. "That's… complicated."

"What do you mean?" Ruby demanded. "Is he alright? Do you know where any of the others are?"

"He's… he won't be hurt where he is," Happy said. "As for the others, Gray is with Weiss in Atlas. They'll be joining us soon."

"Weiss would never join Salem!" Nora shouted. "And I'm pretty sure this Gray guy wouldn't either, I don't know, I never met him."

Happy smiled. "One way or another, they'll find themselves before the Queen. She always gets what she wants in the end. She's looking for the rest of the spheres as we speak."

"Then we need to stop her!" Ruby yelled. She stabbed her sword into the ground and held her open palm towards Happy. "You may have been alone before, but we're here now, Happy. We're your family."

"You are," Happy confirmed. "So… how about you guys come with me and join Salem? She's already reserved you spots on the Gates."

Carla growled. "Listen to yourself, Happy! Do you know what she did at Beacon?"

"I know what _Cinder_ did at Beacon. The Queen gave her far more of a free hand there than she should have."

"People died!"

Happy frowned, none of his usual glee present, completely submerged in despair. "That's what people do."

Carla reeled back. She felt like she'd been slapped. "You… you can't mean that."

"Of course I do. It's true. Cinder should never have gone as far as she did, but do you really think what happened was all that special? She made people afraid, angry. That was all she had to do. The Grimm did the rest. Like they always will," Happy pointed out. He gestured to Ren and Nora. "Hell, I saw the way you two reacted when the Nuckelavee showed up. Was your home particularly unhappy when it swooped in and burnt the place to the ground?"

Ren's eyes narrowed. "You don't know anything about it!"

"I know. That's why I'm asking."

Ren stomped forward but Nora tugged on his arm, holding him back. She gestured to Jaune and Wendy and Ren let out a feral growl. To see the boy so riled up, when he was normally so calm…

"What are you saying then?" Ruby demanded. "Because the Grimm are inevitable, we should just join their master?"

Happy rolled his eyes. "Please. If Salem was the Grimm's master, why would Cinder need to bother riling them up at all?"

"Because… um…"

That was actually a good point. From what Qrow had told them about Salem, the Grimm were supposed to be her foot soldiers. What kind of army couldn't have just the general give a command and march to war? Why did Cinder have to even bother with all the pomp surrounding the Fall of Beacon? Atlas' robots were taken over true, but the Grimm were overwhelming the defenses well before then and after they were destroyed.

Happy twirled his sword, the blade transforming into an intricate sniper rifle. "Salem has no desire to destroy humanity or whatever it is Ozpin told you all. If anything, she wants to push the species forward, the next step on the endless adventure."

Carla scowled. It was ridiculous. Mysteries in Grimm mustering aside, Salem had supported Cinder, who had instigated the Fall of Beacon and killed hundreds. No one who did something like that could possibly be working to help people. And certainly wouldn't be supported by any Fairy Tail member.

"She did something to you, when she turned you into a demon," she declared, had to declare. For her own sanity. "You're being controlled."

"I can confirm that she didn't. She did this to save me. But I suppose that's what I'd say if I _was_ being controlled too," Happy shrugged. "Nothing to be done I suppose. Oh well, we still have a test to finish. And considering my rifle's recharged while we've been talking, and you've all been stewing in negativity—"

Another ear-splitting shriek tore through the air, the huntsmen and huntresses slamming their palms to their ears.

Happy smirked, his wings sprouting wide behind his back. "Good luck."

With a single flap, he shot away into the smog. And like a fiend straight from hell, the Nuckelavee charged out of it.

* * *

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Qrow staggered to his feet, brushing off loose dirt and plaster as he rose. He shook his head in an attempt to dislodge the ringing in his skull. He'd had his share of headaches in his day but being three yards from a gigantic magic blast that could level a town was one of his least favorite methods of acquiring them, right up there with hangovers, his sister in general, and reminding Tai about anything related to Team STRQ that did not include his wonderful daughters.

His life could be quite the minefield. Regardless, he seemed to be missing one very important red hooded pipsqueak.

"Ruby!" he called, only for a ghastly shriek to drown out his words. The Nuckelavee was on the hunt. And it this smoke, there was no way to tell where it was coming from. The rumbling thunder of its hoofs seemed to come from everywhere and its constant screeching didn't help matters.

Fortunately, unlike most people, he was not restricted to searching on the ground.

With barely a thought, his clothes and weapon turned to feathers and his body shrank down to a bird. The instant his avian form was ready, he shot into the air, pushing through the dust until he saw grey skies.

And also, a cat with bat wings and a sniper rifle climbing higher and faster than him? What?

Wait, it wasn't Carla, but the dark blue shade of the fur… could it be? The mystical signature he was giving off was a mix of magic and curse. But that didn't necessarily mean—

There was a puff of smoke and the small cat was replaced by a far, far taller faunus. His hands were coated with fur the same color as his earlier coat while a pair of cat ears stuck out of his mop of blue hair. His frame was large, and his muscles defined, but not overly so like Port or Hazel Rainart. His shoulders were broad, but his body was a runner's, not a bodybuilder's, with a dark green scarf, the shade of Anima's jungles, completing his look.

It was one Qrow had seen many times before, blasting sniper fire after while he and Raven were fleeing the Grimmlands.

His beak tightened with dread as the enemy set his aim on the section of smog right below them. The feline foe would be a difficult challenge to overcome. He'd have to play the situation as carefully as possible if they were going to survive. Because wherever that stupid cat showed up, his partner wasn't far behind. And there was no way in hell they could survive him.

Another shriek sounded from below and reminded Qrow that they were in enough trouble as it was.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

Ooooowwwwww.

Since he'd set out for Beacon, Jaune had experienced many painful things. Cardin kicking his ass in training, Pyrrha kicking his ass in training, getting ragdolled by Grimm in general, Pyrrha sending him away at the tower…

But he could say that being two feet away from a giant magic cannon blast was definitely up there. Very, very high up there.

His entire body screamed with agony as he forced himself to stabilize on his knees, Crocea Mors' sword and shield clattering to the ruined stone. His aura felt lower than it had ever been, and he no longer had the strength to carry them.

And from the looks of things, the rest of his friends weren't doing too much better.

The Nuckelavee had fallen upon them like a hammer, charging through their little section of the rubble with impunity, its negativity sense rending the smog a nonfactor. Meanwhile, that same fog kept them from catching even a glimpse of its attacks until they heard a hellish screech and felt a black claw smash them into the dust. Already Nora and Carla were straggling back to their feet and even Ruby had taken a few hits.

Ren stood alone among the rubble, frantically panting amidst the fog. His wide eyes darted from dust cloud to dust cloud, his hands clenching tighter and tighter around Stormflower. Seeing the Nuckelavee may have driven him into a rage, but now that it had become a phantom, a living nightmare lashing out from his past to destroy his present, he was paralyzed.

"Ren!" Jaune shouted, even as his lungs kicked him for putting pressure on his chest. "Use your semblance!"

It was there only chance. If the Grimm kept attacking them when they couldn't track it, they'd never be able to mount a counterattack. But if Ren could hide them, or even just some of them, long enough to get their bearings on this thing, they could line it up for a Silver Spirit Wail. Unless Happy (they were fighting a flying demon cat named _Happy_ with a sniper rifle and giant sword _._ This was not how he pictured his huntsman career going) decided to intervene in this twisted test of his, it was their best shot of taking the Nuckelavee down.

Fortunately, whatever instinctive terror he was engrossed in, Ren was still a well-trained huntsman. And when your team leader gives you an order, a huntsman responds.

Ren's eyes widened and then narrowed on Ruby. He raised his hand, a soft light emanating from his palm as Ruby's body suddenly turned monochrome.

And that a gunshot cracked through the air. Once more, Ren was smacked to the ground, a shower of electricity racing across his body as his aura shattered.

"No!" Nora shouted, only for the Nuckelavee to race in and nearly trample her underfoot. Only Carla speedily dashing in and pulling her away from the demonic beast saved her life. And that relief was short-lived when another gunshot pierced the air and the pseudo-faunus was enveloped in sparks. The Exceed's transformation faded and she fell to the ruined stone, her aura crackling before breaking completely.

Nora glanced between the friend who'd just saved her and her partner who needed aid, her eyes flickering unsure. In the end, she raised her hammer and stood watch over Carla. It was the correct tactical move, though not one that would have come easily to her.

Ruby sprinted over to Ren, bursting into rose petals to avoid a sudden charge of the Nuckelavee and making it to the downed huntsman, who was doing his best to struggle to his knees. The silver-eyed huntress shifted her shield up to the sky. A flash of white shimmered over her short sword and Crescent Rose replaced it in sniper mode, leaning its muzzle against her defense.

Even still, Jaune could see his fellow leader scowl, and he understood why. No matter how high Happy was hovering, there was no way he was out of Crescent Rose's range, not if he was still hitting them with his own rifle. But the deciding factor, as it was against the Nuckelavee, was the dust cloud smothering the town. As it was, Ruby couldn't _see_ anything above them with her naked eyes, let alone her scope.

But if the constant panging of lightning dust rounds against her shield and surrounding Nora meant anything, their foe was not so encumbered. Somehow. Maybe his scope had infrared sight or maybe he had some Grimm implanted in his body that let him sense negativity too. All in all, they had no way of finding out for sure at the moment, not with the Nuckelavee's shriek echoing through the fog and its claws streaking in to tear at Ruby's side.

Jaune felt like screaming. They were pinned down by sniper fire and a Grimm that could destroy towns, their enemy had fixed the environment against them, Qrow was nowhere to found and might have been killed in the Jupiter Cannon blast if their luck really was as shit as it felt like. His friends were in trouble, facing off against demons he'd didn't even know they had, and just like at the tower, _he couldn't do anything!_ He couldn't even stand.

The best he could do was keep watch over Wendy. She'd stopped Cinder the night of the Fall. She'd done everything she could to protect them from the Jupiter Cannon, tanking enough of its power that his flimsy shields were able to divert it at all. Even now, if she was conscious, it would have been a piece of cake for her to blow away the dust cloud and let them see their enemies. She was amazing. A first-rate wizard, and proof that all the stories Team RWBY had told about Fairy Tail since they first got back were, if anything, understatements.

"Please, wake up," he whispered, grasping her hand tight. "You were right. Protecting people matters more to me, by a country mile. Helping my friends, keeping them safe, I'd do anything for them. They're priceless to me. But there's nothing else I can do. I can't even raise my weapon, let alone fight. I'm useless. Please, you can help them. Please."

Nothing. He didn't know what he was expecting. The Sky Dragon Slayer was bruised, battered, and unconscious. One desperate speech wasn't going to change that.

He stared back at the fight, hoping his despair hadn't drawn the Nuckelavee. Fortunately, or not, the demon horse was focused on Ruby and Ren, constantly forcing their most powerful remaining duo on the run in bursts of rose petal, ducking and dodging bullets of lightning. It was only a matter of time before either the monster or Happy got a lucky shot.

…

No.

No, he wouldn't let that happened. Pyrrha had nearly died because he had been able to do anything. Now, his friends were pushed to the brink and he would not let it happen again. He could not be powerless. He needed to do _something_!

It was then that he caught the glow, his gaze whirling to his hands, still clucking Wendy's. A soft white emanated from them over the Dragon Slayer's body, her bruises and cuts slowly fading.

At the same time, Jaune felt himself sagging, his sparse remaining aura draining away. It took him only a moment to figure out where it was going. But how? His Holy Barrier Magic was unrelated to his aura, it certainly couldn't transfer it to someone else, and he figured Pyrrha would have at least mentioned such a technique when she was teaching him. The only thing that might be able to do something like that was… a semblance.

His eyes widened. This… this was his semblance! Manipulating aura was his semblance! He'd done it! He'd finally unlocked it! Oh, wait until he told Pyrrha—

Right, life or death situation. Think about impressing his partner later. Though, now he was sure there was going to be a later, Wendy's face twitching as she slowly roused from her slumber.

This was his power, the essence of his soul. Supporting his friends, healing his friends, he couldn't have asked for anything better! This was his purpose. As long as he was here, they would be safe, and as long as they were safe, he would be safe.

Their bonds would protect them all.

* * *

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Never had Happy been so grateful that Watts had convinced him to go with the ethernano sight scope. Granted, in hindsight, an infrared would have been pretty much useless given his partner. The guy put out so much heat he would basically been staring at a brick wall.

Regardless, his rifle's current accessory was one that could perfectly well as a regular scope, but found its true usefulness against those deep in the Queen's game. The armament allowed him to see in the spectrum of ethernano, noting its regular sparsity throughout Remnant's atmosphere. Which made it all the more noticeable when any wizard gathered a large amount within their origin, essentially painting a bright neon bullseye over them that Happy couldn't have missed even if he hadn't spent the last half a century developing his marksmanship.

And that marksmanship was serving him well. Combined with the dust cloud from the Jupiter Cannon and the Nuckelavee's rampant offensive, Ruby and Wendy's group was backed into a corner. Every time they attempted to make a move to destroy the Grimm, he'd nail them from above. And whenever they tried to position themselves to defend from him, the Bane of Anima would wreak havoc, forcing them to abandon their fortifications to protect themselves from the new angle of attack.

In a fair fight, he'd have no chance against all of them. But that had been the case his entire life. He'd helped Natsu, Lucy, Gajeel, and the others whenever he could, but he even against the weakest of their enemies, he had to use trickery to survive. This was no different.

He noted the orange-haired girl, Nora Valkyrie if he remembered the Vytal Festival right, gathering ethernano within herself, casting some spell over herself and Carla. He smirked and fired a shot her way, the lightning dust smacking her into the dirt. The demon Exceed was grateful for the huntress protecting his dear friend, but if this test was going to mean anything, he couldn't take it easy on them. He had to push them.

Though given how things were going, he was honestly disappointed. The Jupiter Cannon had hit them hard, taking Wendy out of the fight as he'd hoped (they already knew from her fight with Cinder that she was in as strong shape as ever) and spreading the dust cloud as he'd planned, but they should have been able to do something. Either through ingenuity or pushing beyond their limits they should have been able to overcome this by now.

It was saddening that they were so mired. But, if that was the case, all he could do was put a round through the Nuckelavee's head and report back that—why was Wendy's origin filling with ethernano?

He double-checked his scope's display, only to find that Wendy's origin was rapidly refilling, probably as a result of her eating air. But she shouldn't be able to do that if she was unconscious.

The smoke around her was thinning due her consumption, so he was able to take a good look at her. The Maiden of the Sky was still laid out on the ground, but she was awake and eating her fill, her aura glowing white around her. Jaune Arc knelt beside her, his hands around hers as his aura flickered.

Could this be his semblance? He hadn't shown anything like it at the Vytal Festival and it certainly would have come in handy then. Could he have unlocked it just now?

Happy smirked. It seemed the test had borne fruit after all. If his partner really wanted more candidates for the Gates, this one might be a good choice.

But, if Wendy got back on her feet, she'd blow away the dust and then Ruby and the others would have no difficulty dealing with the Nuckelavee. He couldn't let the test end just as it was succeeding in its purpose.

He sighed and took aim.

"Hey there, furball!"

Shit!

Happy whirled around at the sound of the taunting voice, raising his rifle to meet the downward strike of a sterling grey greatsword. His teeth gnashed together at the sight of the juvenile crimson eyes behind the blade.

"Branwen!" he growled, shoving Ozpin's scout away. "I was hoping you'd died in the cannon blast!"

Qrow sank from the sky, only to instantly transform into a bird and regain his lost height. An instant later, he was human again and Harbinger was coming around for another slashed. "Bad luck on your part, furball! I'm not that easy to kill!"

Happy transformed his weapon into its Buster Sword form and met his enemy's blade head-on, their steel ringing through the clouds.

Qrow smirked. Harbinger bent back and its shotguns peeled out above the hilt.

Happy's eyes widened. He transformed to his smaller form and dashed away with a single flap of his wings just as the spread of birdshot splattered around him. His opponent transformed to keep airborne, but his work was already done.

A rush of wind flowed out from below and the dust clouds were blown away. Wendy sagged back into the rubble, but with the fog cleared, the Nuckelavee was plain for all to see, baying and shrieking as it prepared another charge. This time however, the huntsmen below were already turning to meet the umbral spirit head-on.

Happy growled, bursting back into his battle form and glaring at his approaching avian adversary. If he was to have any chance of keeping the Nuckelavee alive and continuing the test, he had to reclaim total air superiority. Which meant he had to cut Qrow Branwen out of the sky and fast.

A smirk split his face at the thought of that. Who said he couldn't love his work?

* * *

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Despite the chaos running through her head at the thought of their current enemy (they were fighting _Happy_!), Ruby couldn't help the smile that blossomed across her face when the dust cleared. She glanced over to Wendy and Jaune and beamed when she saw her first Beacon friend supporting her first Fairy Tail friend, a strange white glow flowing over both their auras. She'd have to ask them what that was later, but for the moment, their vision was back.

Which made it all the more harrowing that the Nuckelavee was stampeding straight for them!

Ruby made to pivot into its path, use Tulip's Aegis to withstand the blow and keep the monster off Ren. Her friend was recovering from Happy sniping him, but his aura was still broken, and he was only barely back on his feet. She wasn't the strongest person ever, but her shield would be able to take the hit, even if she was blown back several yards—

"Aaaaahhhhhhhh!"

Or Nora could jump in with pink lightning flashing over her skin, gingerly place Carla on the ground, and then ram Magnhild into the Nuckelavee's hoofs just as it was bringing them down. The Grimm whined, its front legs straining against the hammer.

Nora growled, sweat running down her brow, the shattered ground cracking even further under feet. Finally, with a furious roar, she gave a mighty shove and forced the beast back. The ghastly creature stumbled a few steps and let out a rabid shriek, its empty hellish eyes now entirely focused on the hammer wielder. She merely bared her teeth at the monster.

Ruby's mouth gaped open before a wide and eager smirk blossomed across her face.

"Help your uncle!" Nora commanded, tugging Ren to her feet. "We'll handle this guy!" She glared at her partner. "This time, we take him together."

Ren's eyes widened, glancing back and forth between his partner and the Grimm about to attack them again. Nora tightened her grip on his arm, and he gazed into her iron eyes. He took a deep breath, and with his face much closer to his usual calm, nodded.

Ruby grinned, but a thought struck her. "Where's Uncle Qrow?"

"He's fighting the cat," Nora stated, causing Ruby to raise an eyebrow. Happy was in the sky. How the heck was Uncle Qrow fighting him?

The Nuckelavee threw its arms forward before Nora could explain anymore. She had one catch Magnhild in its claws and smacked it into the other, throwing the attack of course. Ren seized that moment and stabbed Stormflower into the black flesh, dragging the limb to the ground. Once it was pinned in the dirt for the briefest instant, he let go of his weapons and slammed his palms into the limb.

" **Crushing Evil: Seek the Truth**."

A grid of white light surged throughout the lanky arm. A few moments later, the entire limb exploded in a scattering of black gob. The Nuckelavee screeched in agony as the scant remains of its limb faded into smoke.

Ren and Nora shared a confident look and charged the nightmarish spirit.

Ruby grinned and turned her attention skyward. She gazed through Crescent Rose's scope and her eyes widened at what she saw.

Uncle Qrow could transform into a bird! That was awesome! Why had he never mentioned that before?!

Indeed, her uncle was currently engaged in a ferocious airborne duel with Happy, Harbinger clashing blow for blow with the Buster Sword as sparks flew through the sky. It certainly explained why they hadn't been pelted with sniper fire for the last few seconds.

Still, the battle wouldn't end well. Without anything to act as his footing, Uncle Qrow couldn't apply traditional balance to the fight or strength to his strikes. Not to mention he had to constantly transform back and forth between his bird form to fly and his human form to actually fight. Meanwhile, Happy had a single form, constant support against gravity, and a sword that could spontaneously elongate at any moment. It was only because of her uncle's tremendous skill that he was holding his own as well as he was. But the conditions of the fight were against him. If it continued as it was, eventually attrition would overcome him.

But just like he'd saved them, she'd help him. They were in this together.

It wouldn't be as simple as just shooting Happy. The two were dueling so fiercely, constantly exchanging positions, that she wouldn't be able to fire into their battle without risking hitting her uncle.

But there might have been another way. She'd only done it with Full Magnolia and its specially made lacrima before, but if she could do it… could she do it with dust… only one way to find out.

She opened the chamber of her beloved scythe and her vision became tinged with silver. Carefully, she slipped wisps of mystical energy into her bullet, the dust within taking on a light all its own.

"Alright, here we go," she muttered, locking her aim just to the side of the sky battle. " **Argentum Flash Shot!** "

She pulled the trigger and the bullet flew into the air. And when it was beside the battle, right behind Uncle Qrow, it erupted in a bright flash of silver light. However, unlike her wail or other magic, this light was just… well, light. It was a flashbang fired right in front of Happy's eyes, forcing the demonic Exceed to pull back his sword as he shut his eyes.

Uncle Qrow capitalized on the intervention. He pulled down Harbinger's blade and fired blast after blast from its shotguns, bombarding Happy with fire and using the recoil to push himself higher into the air.

The blue-furred cat man's aura crackled with strain. Uncle Qrow transformed to get into position above his foe and then became human once more, his sword raised to come down on Happy's head. It'd break his aura for sure, and with how disoriented he was, they could force him to the ground and figure out exactly what Salem had on him that was making him act this way.

It was only afterward, when that chance was good and lost, that Ruby would remember the subtle increase in the air temperature at that moment.

A sapphire fireball, seemingly from nowhere, streaked across the sky like a shooting star. Uncle Qrow's eyes immediately flew up when it approached and he dove out of the way, abandoning his attack on Happy. The demon Exceed didn't capitalize on the evasion, instead transforming into his smaller form and dashing away. The flames flashed past where the two were grappling and far off into the distance, exploding in an enormous blaze that painted the grey sky a vibrant blue.

Ruby cocked an eyebrow at that. Where had that come from? Did Happy summon it somehow? No, he was just as surprised as Qrow was when it came in.

A shriek from the Nuckelavee, weaker than its previous yells, drew her glance. Just in time to watch Nora bash the horse's head into the stone, while Ren wrapped his hands around the rider's visage. Its skull crackled with white light, streaking out in a grid-like pattern until, finally, the Grimm exploding in a mass of black sludge. The half of Team JNPR crumpled to the ground and nearly keeled over.

Ruby grinned. With the Nuckelavee gone, they could focus their attention on the threat from above. With Happy and Uncle Qrow separated, she could fire on the Exceed with impunity—

"Move!" Uncle Qrow shouted, landing on the ground and taking off in a run. He dashed over to Jaune and Wendy, pulling them both up as leaned on each other before snatching Carla up in his arms.

"What?" Ruby exclaimed. "Uncle Qrow, what are you—"

"I said move!" the huntsman commanded. "We have to get out of here!"

"We can take him! Together!" Ruby insisted. "I'll get on my armor and—"

"It's not him I'm worried about!" Uncle Qrow roared. He glared off into the distance, specifically the direction the fireball had come from. A line of sweat dripped down his face. "It's his partner."

"Aw, I'm hurt, Qrow. You don't think I'm threatening?"

All eyes shot up into the sky. Happy flew hovered above them, his sword sheathed on his back. "Ruby, I don't know what Ozpin told you, but this man doesn't have your best interests at heart."

Ruby cocked an eyebrow. "Uh, I'm pretty sure he does. He is my uncle."

Happy tilted his head to the side. He glanced rapidly between the two of them for several seconds before his eyes widened. "What?! Qrow Branwen is your uncle?!"

"Yeah," Ruby said. "Why is this a surprise to you? I talked about Uncle Qrow all the time at the guild."

"I didn't know that was _this_ Qrow! He's an asshole!"

"He is not! And how many other 'Qrows' are there?" Ruby shouted back, before a questioning look came over her. She turned to her uncle. "Are there any other 'Qrows' on Remnant?"

"Not that spell it with a 'Q'. There's a few that spell it with a 'C', including this one professional card player who—that isn't important!" Qrow yelled. He pointed into the sky. "You know this furball?"

"He's Fairy Tail."

"What? He works for Salem!"

"We're still figuring that out!"

"Well, it'll have to wait for now," Happy said, glancing off into the distance. "He wouldn't have interfered unless he was declaring the test to be over." The Exceed looked towards Jaune and Wendy and smiled. "Some of you did better than others. Don't worry though. Unless he decides to drastically change his plans, you should be safe until you hit Haven. Unless you want to come join our side now?"

Ruby glared. "No."

"Worth a shot. Haven it is," Happy waved at them. "See you then!"

"Happy!"

Everyone whirled around to Wendy. The Sky Dragon Slayer was clutching at her arm, but she managed to shuffle herself off of Jaune and limped out in the destroyed town square.

"Wendy…" Carla whimpered. "What are you—"

"I need to know!" Wendy yelled.

Happy raised an eyebrow. "Need to know… what?"

"You know what!" the enchantress said. "The Fairy Sphere. You came out of it, just like we did."

"And?"

"Did it work?!" Wendy demanded. "Did… did it… did it work like a Fairy Sphere is supposed to work?"

"Wendy, what are you talking about?" Ruby asked. "Of course, it didn't, otherwise you wouldn't have ended up here—"

"No, it did. The Fairy Spheres worked exactly as they were designed to," Happy declared. His face was morose and melancholy, sadness seeping off him in waves as he looked down upon his guildmates. "I'm sorry, Wendy. We can only move forward. And Salem is our path."

With that, he blasted away towards the horizon, a meager dot beyond their sight.

Ruby cautiously approached Wendy, reaching her hand out for her friend's shoulder. When she placed it there, the blue-haired girl whirled around and engulfed the huntress in a hug. She smushed her head into the crook of her friend's next, tears already falling from the Maiden of the Sky's face.

"That was what you suspected," Carla muttered, staring blankly into the distance. "That's not… we can't be…"

"Can't be what?" Nora inquired. "What did he mean?"

"A Fairy Sphere's purpose is to protect the target by pulling them out of time," Wendy murmured. "Ours worked perfectly."

It was only then that it clicked in Ruby's head. The Spheres, Ozpin having knowledge of Fairy Tail, Kyouka having no knowledge of the book when they'd fought, and what little Sitara had told them about the book's intended purpose, all of it suddenly came together to form an utterly horrifying picture. Her eyes widened and she pressed her guildmate even tighter against her.

"I don't understand," Jaune said. "Why is that a bad thing?"

"The Sphere worked perfectly," Carla explained. "Which means it didn't cross dimensions. It only preserved us in time."

Ruby watched as all her friends' eyes widened, their minds coming to the same terrible conclusion that she had. The book hadn't sent them to another dimension, it had sent them back in time.

Their world wasn't separate from Fairy Tail's. It was its future. Their world was Earthland's Remnant.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

The Ophiuchus leaned against a tree when a sudden gust of wind announced his partner's return. He turned towards Happy, only to find the demon Exceed in tears.

He sighed and knelt beside his friend, reaching out a clawed hand to gently pat him on the head. "Don't worry. They're confused. They'll come around in time."

"I know. I know," Happy murmured, wiping the tears from his face. "It's just… telling Wendy and Carla the truth about the Sphere, about how we've lost the guild… it brought back bad memories."

The Ophiuchus nodded. While he didn't share his friend's excessive fondness for the Fairy Tail guild, he understood better than most what those bonds meant to him. He was well entitled to his grief.

"Just remember, they're not all gone," he comforted his partner. "Wendy and Carla are with Ruby, and Fullbuster is safe in Atlas with Weiss. The Gate of the Maiden will bring them to us."

"And Lucy? Erza?"

The Ophiuchus grinned, a hungry thing that reeked with bloodlust. "Fairies attract Fairies. Titania and… _Heartfilia_ will be within our grasp soon enough. We just have to keep moving."

"Right," Happy sniffed. He smiled up at the Ophiuchus. "Thanks, Natsu!"

He froze, his gentle hand suddenly tightened. " _What_?"

Happy's eyes widened. He flapped his wings and blasted into a nearby tree, his back splayed against the bark as he shook with terror. "End! End! I'm sorry! You were just sounding so much like him and—"

The grass beneath his feet went up in flames, his curse leaking out with his rage.

"I am _nothing_ like him," he hissed.

"I know, I know!" Happy panicked. "It was just a slip of the tongue! I got caught up in the moment!"

He pulled his hand close and tightened it into a fist. He closed his eyes and took a dozen deep breaths, just like Salem had taught him. He had a right to his fury, but not a right to take it out on his partner. The former Exceed had demonstrated their friendship more than once over the half a century they'd been together. It was an honest mistake.

The flames quietened around him, leaving only the black cinders of the foliage.

"I'm sorry," he said, slumping down on the burnt ground. "But it's been fifty years, Happy. You should know better than to call me his name."

Happy halted his shivering and nodded. "I do. Like I said, I just got caught up in the moment."

"It's fine," he sighed, before popping a smile. "You did great. Wendy and Ruby are as impressive as I remember. And those others proved themselves quite capable. That Jaune boy in particular… he has promise."

"Aye, sir!" Happy cheered. "But did you know Qrow Branwen was Ruby's uncle?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Um, yes. Yang's mother is Raven Branwen. Qrow is Raven's brother. That makes him their uncle. Did you _not_ know?"

"Uh…" Happy suddenly started whistling. "Sooo, if the test's over, what's our next move?"

The Ophiuchus shrugged and rose to his feet, cracking his neck. "Well, Wendy and Ruby shouldn't have any trouble reaching Haven. We can have Lionheart keep an eye on them there until we're ready to move."

"Okay, but what do we do until we are 'ready to move'?" Happy inquired. "We're not just going to sit around doing nothing, are we?"

"Of course not," he grinned. "Ruby said that Yang is on her way. We just need to double back and pick her up. And maybe, just maybe, help arrange that reunion with her mother she wants so badly."

That was her purpose after all. If anything would help sway her over to their side, it would be assisting her in accomplishing that. After all, he knew better than most what it was like to have a purpose. To have one drive, one singular instinct that drove every waking moment of one's existence.

And when that destiny was so close… to have it all snatched away. To be used as a battery, his body a shell for an idiot who pranced through existence on the merit of _his_ power, and then to be cast aside without living a single moment.

He'd had to evolve past that tragedy, that indignity, past _Heartfilia's_ attempt to erase him from existence to preserve her precious fire breathing imbecile.

Salem wanted the Celestial Spirit Wizard alive, and for good reason. But if his friendship with the Queen was not so precious to him… he would take great pleasure in educating that wretched bitch. He was not some fragment of Natsu Dragneel! He was not just _Etherious Natsu Dragneel_! Not E.N.D.! He was greater than that fool could ever have been!

He was the guardian of the Twelve Gates of the Eclipse Etherious, right hand of the Queen of the world yet to come, the great Ophiuchus!

He was End. And no one would take that from him.

* * *

 **Behold! The big twist that will come as a surprise to no one! (I promise, not every story I write has this twist, it is just coincidence that this one and RWBY/Zero were the back-to-back weekly stories).**

 **This chapter was surprisingly easy to write. Like, done in two days when it usually takes me four to five, sometimes longer. I know it isn't my longest one, but still. The tactical fight was a nice change of pace from the grander slugfests that I'm used to writing. The party together could have defeated Happy together head-on, but he was able to use tactics and the environment to maintain the advantage. At least until they began to adapt and remove obstacles until End felt he had to intervene.**

 **Speaking of, all of you who thought the Ophiuchus was Natsu... you were sort of right. It is his body, but it isn't him in the driver's seat. End is someone I'm looking forward to exploring in this story, the consciousness of Etherious Natsu Dragneel before Zeref shoved his little brother's soul into the main consciousness of the body. Since Larcade was stated to be an E.N.D. prototype and he certainly had sentience without Natsu, I don't find it too much of a stretch that there was a more traditional being in control before Zeref was satisfied enough to put his sibling's soul into it, the same being that started leaking out when Natsu thought Lucy was dead and E.N.D. partially emerged, only to be shut back inside when Erza brought Natsu and Gray back to their senses.**

 **As for the fact that Lucy seemingly rewrote the Book of E.N.D. so that Natsu wasn't a demon anymore... well... as it says here, it was an attempt. Why it failed falls under spoilers.**

 **Please feel free to check out the TvTropes Page! As a first for one of my stories, it has an Awesome Moments page, so don't let it be incomplete. Head on over and add any trope or awesome moment you see to the list!**

 **An extra huge thank you to my patrons: ArcherMcMuffin, Gregg Tracton, Keith Traction, Annaya Chan, Nora Okonus, Paula mandel, KefkaesqueXIII, Christian Howard, SanyaBane, and Matthew Blevins.**

 **Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!**

 **Go Forth and Conquer!**


	29. Chapter 28

**Heads up, my grandmother has gone into hospice care, so there will no chapter next week.**

 **If you wish to support me and my college tuition, please check out my P a treon for future chapter summaries, story ideas and more: p a Treon.(c om) (backslash) themaster4444**

 **Beta-ed by xenosaiyan**

* * *

Mercury had lived a life of great terror. From the moment he could understand what fear was, he knew he felt it towards his father. He'd felt it when the bastard had beaten him half to death every day and tore his soul apart, literally. He'd compressed his fright within him, until at last it had boiled over into the plan that had seen him beat his dear old dad to death after a longer than usual night of drinking.

But the fear hadn't disappeared, just changed shape. He no longer needed to dread beatings he knew would come, but instead he had beheld horrors and monsters the likes of which regular people had never dreamt of, even becoming one himself. His lost semblance was more than compensated for by the maritime powers he'd gained, his body constantly pulsating with enough power to tear Yang Xiao-Long limb from limb, if his new master were to allow it. He was a demon, he was a Celestial Spirit, a legendary Eclipse Etherious.

And he found he had never been more afraid than he was right then and there.

"So… the horsy can jump over the other pieces?"

Cinder's teeth ground against each other so loudly that Mercury thought she must have used her curse to enhance his sense of hearing just so he'd notice. "It is not a _horsy_ , it is a _knight_."

Mercury gulped. "Right, sorry."

He, Cinder and Emerald were in the training hall of Salem's castle, as usual these days. But instead of flooding the place or turning it into some mucus-covered slip-and-slide, the ex-boss lady had decided that, since they were now 'equals' they could learn to think instead of just obey. Which had of course always been her plan when she'd told them about the Gates and had nothing to do with the Keeper ominously overlooking them all.

Either way, it was how he found himself sitting at the black side of a chessboard across from Emerald, who couldn't help cracking a pleased smirk at Cinder reprimanding him. He couldn't exactly blame her, he'd do the same if it was her in the Gate of the Archer's crosshairs, but that didn't prevent the spark of annoyance from popping up within him. And since the new boss lady was watching, that meant the old one couldn't kill him if he gave her a bit of lip.

"Why are we even playing this stupid game anyway?" he demanded, throwing his hand over the board, most of his pieces sitting off the checkered squares, captured by Emerald.

His green-haired compatriot sighed, as if she knew anything more about the stupid game than he did. "We're learning strategy, you idiot—"

"Since when have you cared if we knew anything about strategy?" he challenged Cinder, ignoring her fangirl. "And what can we possibly learn from this crap that we don't already know? This isn't how a fight works. The guy trying to beat the shit out of you isn't going to play by any rules."

Cinder's eyes flared with orange light, flames flicking over her palms. "You cocky, ungrateful little—"

"Ahem."

Mercury smirked as all of Cinder's fire was immediately extinguished. The Keeper floated over to their table, a soft purple glow shining from within.

"You do not berate friends for not understanding something when you have not explained it clearly," Salem's voice directed, her odd mix of menace and guidance permeating the air even when she wasn't physically present. "Help them to become better, just as your teacher did you. I do not believe you understood this lesson the first time either."

Cinder glanced away, a disgruntled pout on her face. If he didn't know for a fact that she was a sociopath, he might have even called it cute. "I figured it out quick enough."

"Different people have different experiences. Not everyone shares your aptitude."

"I am well aware of my own abilities."

"Then help them improve theirs."

"She is helping us," Emerald cut in, supporting her idol as always. "We've learned how to make use of the pieces in front of us, plan with their limitations in mind… and… um…"

Mercury rolled his eyes. "Don't bother. We all know that this game isn't even close to how an actual fight works."

"Quite correct," Salem concurred. "But this exercise is not about learning battle, child."

"It's about learning war," Cinder finished. The Fall Maiden sighed and set all the pieces back onto the board as if it was the beginning of a new game. "If two players are at full strength, who wins between them?"

Emerald raised an eyebrow. "The… better player. Right, ma'am?"

Mercury scoffed. "As if." He knocked two of Emerald's pawns off the board, ignoring her cry of indignation. "Even if two people are at 'full strength', they're never going to be equal. One of them is going to be more powerful than the other."

"Exactly."

Mercury glanced up, finding Cinder looking upon him with a surprised expression. "What?"

"He's right?" Emerald asked, aghast.

"Partially," Salem said, a note of approval in her voice. "He's on the right path. Now, Cinder, guide him the rest of the way."

Cinder nodded, replacing the pawns Mercury had knocked down. "The great lie of chess is that it assumes that conditions will be equal, that each side will have a fair chance at claiming victory. Knowing how to fight under such constraints is important, as there will be times when you will need to, but more importantly, one must understand how to break such rules."

"What do you mean, ma'am?" Emerald inquired.

"Cheat," Mercury answered.

Cinder smirked. "You're thinking too small. Bringing a gun to a knife fight might give you an edge, but it doesn't prevent the possibility of your opponent landing those knives in your gut anyway." She reached over to Emerald's side and turned each of her pawns on their side. If Mercury was remembering right, that was meant to symbolize that they had reached the end of the board and transformed into queens. She then plucked Mercury's queen off to the side. "Steal your enemies' knife before the fight starts. Don't show up and have a sniper pick them off from afar. Poison them so they don't even make it to the battlefield. Set the conditions how you want them to be, and you can win the battle before it starts."

Mercury scowled, but he supposed it made sense. He'd waited to attack his old man until he was both drunk and exhausted from a job and he still lost his legs. If he'd poisoned the bastard's beer instead, maybe he wouldn't have had to have been the only Eclipse Etherious with metal legs. Still, it wasn't in him to admit he was wrong so easily.

"I thought you said this was about learning war, not battle," he challenged, causing Emerald to glare at him. "You're telling me that this is all there is to strategy? More elaborate cheating? What if the enemy brings a weapon you don't know about or is immune to the poison you use?" He gestured to Emerald's side of the board. "How do you make sure the game ends the way you want it to if you can't see the other guy's pieces?"

Surprisingly, Cinder's smile only grew. "By making sure it's the only way it _can_ end."

When both he and Emerald looked at her questioningly, Cinder pointed at both sides of the board, a strange, almost innocent excitement radiating off her. "Every piece on the board is loyal to one of you two. Who are you loyal to?"

"You," Emerald said.

Mercury pointed a thumb over his shoulder at the Keeper. "The boss lady."

Cinder sighed, but it was filled more with exasperation than irritation. "And since I am loyal to Salem, no matter which side wins this battle…"

She gestured with her hand as if expecting an answer, one that instantly popped into Mercury's head as his eyes widened with realization.

"She gets what she wants," he muttered. "She wins the war."

"Precisely," the Queen herself declared.

Cinder grinned, plucking a pair of pawns from each side and casually tossing them into the air. "Our enemies will always have a choice. The key to strategy is to make sure no matter which choice they make, we benefit. The pieces are irrelevant, let them choose whatever side they trust. Control the players, and the war is yours as soon as it begins."

A sudden purple flash emanated from the Keeper. Mercury and Emerald blinked spots out of their eyes, while Cinder stared at the bulbous Grimm.

"Your grace… did you just take a picture?"

"It won't be as fine a quality as those security cameras Watts installed everywhere, but this angle will feel more authentic," Salem explained. "Your teacher would never forgive me if I didn't capture the memory of your first time hanging out with your new friends."

Emerald's eyes widened, her cheeks flushing. Mercury might have mocked her for it if he wasn't sure the his own were the same, along with his shorter breaths. Salem acting like an embarrassing parent was both embarrassing, and terrifying.

Of course, the one with the reddest cheeks, red with fury, was Cinder. "Your grace, this is not a playdate. I am instructing them on strategy."

"Using your favorite game."

"It was how Teacher taught it to me."

"And you were quite enjoying teaching it to them," Salem noted. "I believe I shall leave you three to discuss the matter in private. Have fun!"

The Keeper went dark and proceeded to bob its way out of the room. Mercury wished it had stayed. Logically, he knew Hell's Core would bring him back when Cinder killed him, he'd even get new legs out of the deal, but he wasn't quite so eager to test out his mortal coil.

Emerald gulped. "Ma'am—"

"No, not ma'am," Cinder sighed. She flashed her hands beneath her and conjured a chair of glass, which she proceeded to collapse into. "She is… not wrong. You two have performed… adequately, and well-earned your position as my… my… equals."

"Oh," Mercury uttered, for once at a loss for words. Was this a fake-out to lower their guard? Was she going to incinerate them in one shot? "Um, thanks?"

"It's no trouble at all ma'am—Cinder," Emerald piped up, looking like she was trying to decide if the holidays had come early or if the apocalypse was upon them. "We won't let you down. We wouldn't have made it this far without your guidance."

"No, no you wouldn't have," Cinder concurred, nodding as if something in the world finally made sense again. "And as… fri… frie…fir…"

"You need help there, boss?" Mercury couldn't help snarking.

" _Friends_ ," Cinder at last gasped out. "As friends, we shall take each other even further. I will care for you and you will care for me, and we shall all sit atop the new world our mistress will build."

Mercury cocked an eyebrow. "Hooray?"

"We're with you, Cinder," Emerald grinned.

"Are we?" Mercury said, both women whirling on him with narrowed glares. "Hey, I'm just saying. None of us have the most traditional social background. Do either of you know the first thing about being 'friends'? Because I don't."

"I used to have them," Cinder said, a murderous scowl crossing her face, though it didn't seem to be directed at him. "They betrayed me."

"Well then, we'll start by not doing that," Emerald declared. She covered Cinder's hands in what she must have thought was a comforting way. The ex-boss lady just raised an eyebrow. "So what if none of us have had good friends before? Team RWBY figured it out. How hard can it be?"

Cinder grinned, her expression more eager yet somehow more terrifying than ever before. "Yes. Those idiotic fools think they're better than us. But they're not the only ones who can use each other to become stronger. And we will become stronger than they've ever been, than anyone has ever been!"

Mercury couldn't help but shake his head. A thief, an assassin, and a megalomaniac with a penchant for fire were going to become friends when between them they didn't have a single relationship that hadn't ended in homicide…

Well, he couldn't complain that his life wasn't interesting.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

"Anything?" Winter inquired.

Dr. Pietro Polendina shook his head, typing away at his lab's computer. "I'm sorry, commander. But I've looked through Intelligence's files a dozen times now. There's no mention of magic."

Winter growled. "What about Taurus? Any mention of how he got into the kingdom?"

"Nothing," Pietro confirmed. "If COMMAND does have something to do with what's been happening, she's hiding it very well."

Winter clenched her fist. "Thank you, doctor. Give my best to your daughter."

The old man smiled kindly, his mechanized carrier taking him over to another computer, returning to his regular work. And leaving the Schnee Specialist with nothing.

She knew there was something going on here. Intelligence had taken Ella Autumn all those years ago. Drizzella had been ordered to arrest Blake Belladonna back in Vale. And now, Adam Taurus was conveniently able to enter the kingdom and provide enough of a threat for Weiss and Fullbuster to work with COMMAND ESR to stop him. When she had pointed out the pattern to General Ironwood, he'd ordered her to conduct their own 'in-house' investigation into Intelligence's activities, especially since he had revealed that the director had mentioned nothing about Fullbuster being a member of Fairy Tail.

Something was going on. That masked devil was plotting something! But what? Her only stated goal had ever been the protection of Atlas, and while the general had made clear his personal displeasure with her recent actions, he was still doing exactly what she suggested and keeping the embargo up. What did she have to gain from all this? What was this grand scheme for? Winter knew she was intelligent, but the spymaster had years of experience in espionage over her. Her master plan was probably so tangled it would be impossible for an outside observer to figure it out.

So… maybe she should start smaller. She couldn't unravel machinations from years back without more information, but perhaps she could ascertain what the smaller objective was of her more recent endeavors. That was a place to start.

Assuming that COMMAND ESR did let Adam Taurus into the kingdom, then her follow-up to that act of treason was to manipulate events so that Weiss alone was present to confront him, with military forces thrown off by her withholding information and her Intelligence reinforcements kept from the reports. Where was the benefit in that? The piece she'd brought onto the board was gone. Had she planned for Weiss to join her? Was that why she'd made her into a hero? If so, it had backfired spectacularly. Winter had only caught the periphery of the matter and Weiss had made it perfectly clear that she had been… discouraged from working with Intelligence again, at least without tremendous incentive.

Perhaps a bidding war would break out for her little sister between COMMAND and Esper. the council chairwoman had been doing her best to make contact, though Weiss had refused a meeting so far. Given that she'd recently purchased an apartment in Atlas proper, Winter could guess what was keeping her so busy.

Was that all this was? Another attempt to acquire a wizard and create a popular public figure to rival Esper?

… No. No, maybe if Eleanor was calling the shots, but COMMAND was never so straight forward. She never let one of her plots going pear-shaped keep her from making something of it. Operation Godmother's Haven had nearly resulted in all-out war and she'd turned it into a way to discredit the Hunters for Humanity and gain a silver-eyed warrior. There must have been some other goal, but what else could have been gained at the surplus complex? There was some dust missing, but Intelligence had no reason to steal it, they had access to plenty of dust.

Wait. Everyone was looking at what happened at the surplus complex. The media was showering attention on Weiss and her brave actions keeping the dust safe. But as a consequence, no one outside the military knew what else had happened that night.

It was ridiculous. The Ace Ops had easily repelled the White Fang's attack. It was a diversion for the other raid. Taurus had designed it to fail.

Just like COMMAND ESR had designed for _him_ to fail.

"Doctor," Winter called. "What was the lab like after the attack?"

Pietro looked from his console, a concerned frown on his face. "Well… we don't know yet. The White Fang somehow acquired the access code, so I made sure to change it. The cameras had gone down, so we've been running their files to find out what happened, and checking the rest of our systems just to be sure."

"There was no visual of the lab during the attack…" Winter muttered. "Is your daughter—"

"She's fine, don't worry," the professor assured her. "I have her on a separate network. Can't have anyone messing with my girl when we're so close to putting her back together."

Winter shot him a small smile. One more step to repairing the damage done by the Fall of Beacon. "Give her my best. You said the cameras in the lab were down during the attack. What about in the docking bay itself?"

"Funny you should mention that," Pietro said, tapping a few keys on his chair. The mechanical palanquin projected a small screen into the air between the two, displaying the docking bay the night before, the doctor, the Ace Ops, and the dozens of unconscious White Fang all present. "Watch this."

Several seconds passed. The doctor sealed himself in his elaborate panic room. The Ace Ops left to cover the rest of the convoy. The screen froze.

"There," Pietro said. "Right there."

Winter raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean? I don't see anything."

"Neither did I at first. On the visual spectrum, there's so much dust from the fight it'd be hard to make out anything. But when I showed it to Penny, she caught this," the professor explained. He reached out and pointed to a specific section of the smoke, one a slightly different shade than the rest. "It's not much. But there's no telling what semblances can do these days, and that's without taking magic into account."

"Fair reasoning," Winter admitted, not entirely convinced slightly different colored smoke warranted such suspicion. At least, it wouldn't on its own. "What else have you been able to find out?

"Not much, unfortunately. I ran tests throughout the docking bay but didn't pick up much out of the ordinary. Although…" Pietro tapped a few more keys, several chemical composition graphs coming up. Winter's eyes widened. "I did find traces of this compound, but I've never seen anything like it."

"I have," Winter murmured. "Ana showed it to me once back at the academy. It's a poison Intelligence uses. They call it Bane Particle."

Pietro raised an eyebrow. "If they are involved in this, that doesn't seem like something they'd leave behind so casually. What's this mean?"

"I don't know, doctor. But I think you should put all matters aside until your daughter is back online. Something tells me that we'll need all the help we can get soon enough—"

Her worries were interrupted when her scroll suddenly buzzed. Conspiracy aside, duty still called as it would and Winter picked up without hesitation.

"Commander Schnee speaking," she said. "Report."

"Ma'am," Clover replied, his voice grave. "It's the General. And your family."

Winter could already feel a headache coming on. And yet, the terrified tone from Clover, one of the most decorated specialists in the kingdom… somehow, she knew that it was much, much worse than that.

She could only hope Weiss was okay.

* * *

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"Alright, that should be everything," Weiss declared, dropping two suitcases full of dust and lien at her feet.

She and Klein stood in the midst of the manor library in the dead of night. After she'd decided to move out of her family home while Jacques was still in a tizzy from her threat, her faithful butler had informed her of a hidden escape passage her grandfather had kept secret since he'd first built the house. At the same time she and Gray slipped out through the underground, he would drive out a car that supposedly would hold her. With Whitley coming home at the same time, it would have created the perfect confusion for her to slip out unnoticed.

Of course, given that Jacques had been yelling at General Ironwood in his office for the last fifteen minutes, the elaborate scheme had proved decidedly less necessary. Just another thing the bastard had ruined for her.

The grand bookcase slid open and Gray strode out, completely shirtless. "All clear. No sign of Intelligence on the other side."

Weiss nodded. They could leave as soon as Whitley returned, and Klein headed out. Jacques wouldn't be available to fool, but she wouldn't put it past Eleanor and COMMAND ESR to have someone keeping an eye on her, make sure she stayed in line. She supposed she'd just have to be satisfied with her plan fooling them.

She glanced around the library, rows upon rows of books going on as far as the eye could see, deep blue walls given the impression that one was submerged under a magical sea. She'd spent hours upon hours in this haven as a child. Reading about grand and noble heroes or studying every scrap of knowledge she could in hopes of becoming one. They were good memories, some of the best parts of her childhood.

But in part, because Jacques had so rarely come into this place.

The mansion was her family home. It was a part of her legacy and her birthright. She'd grown up there, in more ways than one. She was leaving now, but she would return. She would return and make it hers.

She turned to Klein and enveloped him in a hug. "Thank you for everything, Klien."

Her faithful butler tried his best to smile, but he was clearly nervous about this entire thing, beads of sweat pouring down his bald head. "I'd do anything for you, little snowflake. Please get out of here."

Weiss pulled back and smiled at him. "As soon as you give us the signal, we'll be gone."

"Right. Right, of course," Klein muttered. He looked to Gray and his eyes flared red. For a moment, Weiss worried that his grumpy personality would scold her friend for not wearing a shirt in the presence of a lady.

Instead, his eyes faded to their usual brown and he looked at the wizard with… desperation.

"Please, take care of her," he begged.

Gray raised an eyebrow but nodded. "Always."

Klein returned the gesture and left the library, carrying another of Weiss' bags that would be used as a decoy.

"Did he seem… worried?" Gray asked.

Weiss shrugged. "He's the closest thing I ever had to a father. I can't imagine he'd be all too thrilled that he won't be able to protect me anymore."

"Probably."

Whatever else he might have said was cut off when Weiss' scroll went off, causing the heiress to raise an eyebrow. There was no way Klein had gotten to the front of the mansion so quickly.

She pulled out her device, the caller ID reading…

"Whitley?" she said. "What's he calling about?"

Gray shrugged. "He should be here soon. Maybe he just wants to let you know?"

Weiss cocked an eyebrow. Whitley wasn't exactly the type to call home when he was getting back. She'd only seen her brother periodically since she'd gotten back from Beacon, he was busy with his internship and she was focusing on Adam. Whatever it was he wanted to talk about, it could wait until after she'd relocated. She'd give him a call once she'd settled into her apartment. They could go out for lunch, or whatever else it was normal siblings did.

She flicked her finger across the screen and hung up. Soon, she would be free from Jacques' influence forever. And she'd be one step closer to putting a stop to both him and Atlas Intelligence.

* * *

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" _Hello, you have reached Weiss Schnee. At present, I am occupied with other important matters. Please leave a message and I will do everything in my power to get back to you in a timely matter."_

Whitley sighed and turned off his scroll. "Well, I tried."

He and Esper were in the back of her limo, sitting in complete comfort as they drove towards the Schnee Manor. Some might have found it odd that his boss drove him home, but he had heard that mothers dropped off their children at trying events, like sports or academic tests. And since his own mother hadn't been sober since he was eight and his home life more than qualified as trying, he appreciated the chairwoman's concern.

However, at the moment, all she had for him was an unamused look. "Whitley…"

"What?" he protested. "She didn't respond when you called to set up a meeting for us to talk and she seems to have no interest in reconciling with me. I can't work anything out with her if she won't speak to me."

And he did want to work things out with her. He wanted to speak with her, work out whatever issues they had. And though he told himself it was to take advantage of the rampant praise the public was heaping on her, he couldn't deny that Madam Rosenflos' overtures towards repairing his relationship with the one sibling he actually cared about had been… convincing.

But if she didn't accept his calls, there was nothing he could do about that. They should just go on with their current status quo and not attempt to make any changes that might result in him suffering physical or emotional harm. Who needed familial relationships anyway?

Esper sighed. "You don't stop trying to reach your goal just because you fail. You reevaluate your strategy and try a different approach."

"That is one way to think about it," Whitley admitted. "What's your new approach for getting through the general's thick head? The vote on the embargo is tomorrow."

The chairwoman groaned. "Don't remind me. Robyn just sent me Mantle's latest news."

"Anything good?"

"Nothing unexpected. James is being called a tyrant for not having ended the embargo already and people are slowly losing faith in the rest of us for not figuring out a way around him," Esper shook her head. "I can't say they're wrong either."

Whitley huffed. "They may be correct about the general, but not you. You're working harder than anyone to put an end to this stupidity."

Esper smiled. "Thank you, Whitley. Sometimes though… sometimes I'm really going to help people."

Whitley raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"The public sees me as some sort of saint. A guardian angel, who even at her worst is only naïve," Esper explained. "But you know more than most that my hands aren't exactly clean."

"No one's hands are clean," Whitley scoffed. "But you're hardly my father. When he cuts corners, its to enrich his profits. When you do it, it's so Mantle won't be entirely a town of homeless people."

"But people are still hurt by my actions."

"Less than would be if you did nothing," Whitley declared. "I'd say suffering with a net gain is better than suffering for suffering's sake."

Esper looked down, her perfect façade fracturing for once. A moment later however, her brilliant smile returned. "Thank you, Whitley. Sometimes, it's hard to keep in mind what I'm working towards. But that makes it no less important."

Whitley grinned, the limo pulling into the mansion's parking circle. "Happy to help."

Indeed, who needed familial relationships? The bonds formed by choice were far superior that whatever blood ties fate lumped them with at random. He would seek to reclaim his relations with Weiss, but as for the rest of them?

They could burn for all he cared.

* * *

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"I know you were behind this James! This has your fingerprints all over it! Stealing my daughters and blaming me for your blunders—"

"For gods' sake, Jacques, shut up!" Ironwood shouted. He'd only come to this meeting to make sure the Schnee patriarch didn't try anything reckless before the vote tomorrow, but not it seemed his old associate wasn't even going to wait that long before getting on his nerves. "What are you talking about? I've already told you that Weiss joining up with Intelligence was a state-sanctioned action—"

"And what about telling her little edited version of Godmother's Haven?!"

"What?"

"Don't lie to me!" Jacques screeched. "She told me about that false version you concocted to put everything on me! And now she's threatening to release it to the public! She'll bring down the entire kingdom if she does that!"

"Which is why we never told her a word about it," Ironwood growled, his eyes narrowing at the CEO. He had his hands full stockpiling the kingdom's defenses and preparing for the Amity Project. He needed to focus on stopping Salem, not containing a secret that should have long been buried. "How did she find out?"

Jacques froze. "Well, how am I supposed to know? She said COMMAND and Eleanor told her about it, but for all we know that could be a lie as well. But she must have gotten proof of it somewhere! She's trying to blackmail me with it for the company!"

"She's trying to blackmail you with a _state secret_?" Ironwood repeated incredulously. "And you're just telling me this now!?"

"You haven't exactly been the easiest person to deal with as of late, James!" Jacques fired back. He stomped over to his bookcase and pointed to a deep cut in the wood. "She threatened me, right there! She's learned how to use her semblance to conjure swords out of thin air!"

More than likely that was actually magic. Jacques certainly wouldn't know the difference. Still, from what Ironwood had observed, such behavior was a bit too aggressive for Weiss. Though if she had been working with Intelligence, she must have picked up a few things.

"I will handle Weiss," Ironwood promised. He would greatly prefer the SDC to be in her hands to her father's, but if Godmother's Haven got out it would start a war with Mistral. He couldn't let that happen. "Right now, we need to figure out _how_ she knows and plug the leak."

Jacques straightened his tie and glanced all about his office. He was off-balance, rattled. Ironwood hadn't seen him like this in a long time.

"She said COMMAND and Eleanor told her," he said. "But those two are fanatics. They'd never let anything slip that could jeopardize the kingdom's security. The Tremaine girls prefer to think it never happened. And you obviously didn't tell her. Which means the only other person who could have known is the Specialist Commander. I don't suppose Obsidian ever met Weiss."

"No," Ironwood replied. "I've had an eye on him since his dismissal. He's never contacted her."

"Well, then who could it be? The only person left is…" Jacques looked up as if coming to a realization. "Winter."

Ironwood's eyes narrowed. "You should think twice before you accuse my right hand of treason, Jacques."

"Of course," Jacques said, holding up his hands. "But you have to admit, she does dote on Weiss. And considering her animosity with COMMAND ESR… well, what better way to convince her little sister to stay out of harm's way."

"Perhaps, but unlike you, Winter is a professional."

Both Ironwood and Jacques whirled around to the door, a very unexpected guest marching into the office with shaggy white hair and a crinkled petticoat.

"Willow," the general greeted, unable to hide his surprise.

"What are you talking about, dear?" Jacques asked, quite confused. "I am not accusing our daughter of anything—"

"Neither of us deserve to be called her parents, and yes you were," the oldest true Schnee interceded, a stalwart spark lit within her normally dead eyes. She raised her scroll. "Fortunately, you're not very good at it."

She tapped the play button and the device began to play a recording of Weiss and Jacques in the very same office. A video that consisted of Jacques telling his second daughter _everything_ about Operation Godmother's Haven.

Ironwood leveled his fiercest glare at the tycoon, his mouth was open in abject terror. "You told her everything?!"

"I thought she already knew! I thought COMMAND had already told her! She knew things she couldn't have known otherwise!" Jacques protested. He glanced fearfully at his wife, then at the position the camera must have been at to get the recording. "You… how long have been spying on me?"

"Long enough," Willow declared. "I have everything stored in an offsite server." She looked to Ironwood. "Is it enough?"

"To charge him for treason? Most definitely," Ironwood growled. He stalked towards Jacques, the businessman fearfully backpedaling until he smacked up against the wall, the general leering over him.

"Wait! James, wait! You can't threaten me in my own home!" he pleaded.

"You disclosed state secrets. That is a felony."

"I was tricked! And you should be one to talk! You're the one that approved the damn thing in the first place!"

"What I did, I did for the good of Remnant," Ironwood snarled. " _Everything_ I do, I do for the good of Remnant."

"You, on the other hand, are not nearly so altruistic," Willow noted.

Jacques' panic dissolved for a moment, replaced with fury. His eyes narrowed at James. "If you arrest me, there'll be a trial. I'll tell everyone the truth!"

"That will make you a Class-A security risk," Ironwood reminded him. "That will be one matter I'll gladly let COMMAND ESR handle."

"Oh, don't act like she isn't already your favorite attack dog!" Jacques spat. "Seducing Weiss to be your puppet, stealing my dust! I bet you even plan to loose her on Esper the first chance you get—"

"Stealing your dust?" Ironwood interjected. "What are you talking about?"

Jacques scoffed. "Don't play dumb. I looked over the reports after the Taurus incident and I visited the surplus complex. Their records show that a quite substantial missing amount that Intelligence's public statement did not mention."

Ironwood backed off, his fists closing in fury. "Their report to me didn't mention anything missing either."

Jacques' eyes widened. "What?"

The door to the office creaked open. The two Schnees and the general turned to see the new entrant.

"Klein?" Willow said. "What is it?"

"Get out of here, you oaf!" Jacques commanded. "We're discussing something important."

Klein ignored his master entirely, his panicked eyes locking onto his mistress as his fingers tightened around the large bag in his grip. "No. No, ma'am, why are you in here? You're supposed to be in the garden. No, no, no, no."

Willow raised an eyebrow and braced her long-serving butler. "Klein, Klein, it's alright. It's alright. What's wrong? Why shouldn't I be here?"

Tears began to tumble down from suited man's eyes, something that caused even Jacques to raise an eyebrow. Ironwood didn't blame him. He'd been visiting Schnee Manor for decades now and he'd never seen the professional man break his composure, even with his multiple personalities.

"I tried to resist her," Klein muttered. "I tried so hard to resist her, but… but I can't… I wanted to scream, to warn you all… but I can't."

"Who?" Ironwood demanded. "Who are you trying to resist?"

Klein glanced at the general, a look of complete despair on his face. He lifted up the bag in his hands.

A bag that suddenly clicked with a quite distinctive _hum_. One that prompted Ironwood to immediately raise his aura.

He knew it wouldn't be enough.

"She sends her regards," Klein murmured. "And her apologies."

After that, there was only fire.

* * *

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Whitley staggered to his knees, his ears ringing with cacophony, his pristine vest and dress clothes covered with soot. He looked out over the scene before him, his eyes widening with utter horror.

The Schnee Mansion, the manor built by his grandfather, the symbol of his family's affluence and majesty, his _home_ , was rubble. The marble pantheon of Atlas was a gargantuan ruin, the main building completely demolished as small fires and shattered glass littered the site. Even the gardens, his mother's precious sanctum had sustained damage, though unlike the rest of the place, they still stood. Mother would be fine, unlike—

"Weiss!" Whitley screamed, blanket terror rushing over him. He dashed forward into the rubble.

"Whitley, wait!" Esper screamed after him, only to be held back by her security team, one of whom was already radioing for emergency services.

"Madam Chairwoman stay back!" one of the suited specialists ordered.

Esper growled, reaching into her coat and withdrawing three knives in one hand and four in the other. She threw them out into the air, each on shimmering with a soft white glow. Suddenly, they all flashed and suddenly there were seven new Espers, white capes and all, a product of her semblance.

"After him!" the original commanded, her clones and two of the security specialists chasing after him.

In some small rational corner of his mind, he recognized that he should really stop and let them take him back to the overturned limo. He wasn't a huntsman, or fighter. He didn't even have his aura unlocked. Whatever had occurred to cause the explosion, the only thing he could possibly do to help in the aftermath was to stay back and stay out of the professionals' way.

But he wasn't thinking with that small rational part of his brain. Call love, call it adrenaline from the blast, call it stupidity, because it really was. But it didn't matter. Weiss was his sister, and whatever differences they had, whatever she might have done to him, he cared about her and he _had_ to make sure she was okay.

And so, he found his legs rapidly carrying him through the ruins towards the library, the place where he and Weiss had always hidden from father's wrath when they were children. With any luck, she'd been taking sanctuary from him there today as well.

At least, that was his thought before he saw that it too had been reduced to a pile of rubble.

Whitley sank to his knees, uncaring that his Mistralian dress pants were torn to shreds against the sharp rocks or that Esper's clones and the security team were catching up to him. He wasn't sure if he was sniffling or coughing from the smog, but he didn't care.

"I'm sorry, Weiss," he murmured. "I'm sorry for being angry, for being petty. You left me… and I was alone. I was alone with him, and I didn't know what to do. I just knew that you left… and I wanted you back. And then when you did come home, all I could think about was how you hadn't wanted to return, that you didn't want to come back to me. I thought I was still alone, and because of that, I was. And now you're gone again… I just want you back again."

Idly, he noted a pair of water droplets drip onto the gravel beneath him, their black hue made slightly darker.

He also noticed that it was surprisingly cold for a place that had just been blown up.

A large pile of rubble shifted to his left, drawing the distraught boy's gaze. Beneath the rocks and ash, a cracked dome of pink and black ice was revealed. A moment later, the crystalline structure melted away, revealing—

"Weiss!" Whitley cheered, shooting back to his feet.

His sister was alive. Sagging and panting for breath with her aura crackling to nothing around her, but alive, Myrtenaster outstretched in her hand. Her Intelligence friend was laid out beneath her, singed and bruised, but well enough. He collapsed on his face immediately after. Whitley would probably care more about that if he could remember the black-haired boy's name. Did he ever learn it?

Eh, he could do that later. His big sister had survived the explosion that had leveled their family home! He couldn't remember a time when he was so stupendously joyous. The same legs that had carried him into the ruin now carried him over to her.

Then, something happened. Weiss' body, previously exhausted and heaving, suddenly went ramrod straight, filled with a burst of energy. As Whitley raced towards her, his sister's blue eyes widened. She started running towards him, and, for a moment, he thought they would embrace in a hug, just like normal siblings.

Then, Myrtenaster rose and a sharp pain blossomed in his gut.

* * *

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Weiss staggered back, her brother tumbling to the ground, his vest darkening with blood. The same blood that now stained her sword.

She didn't understand what had happened. The explosion had ripped through the house, she and Gray had barely gotten a barrier up in time. Even then, both their auras had shattered and he was laid out on the ground, completely exhausted.

Everything had been leveled, the entire mansion was gone, rubble. Then Whitley had started running towards her and… something had taken over her. Her body had moved, but she hadn't moved it, she'd been too exhausted to move an inch. But whatever power had moved her had made her run towards Whitley and raise Myrtenaster and—oh gods.

"Whitley!"

Esper Rosenflos dashed over to her brother, kneeling at his side and applying pressure to the wound in his gut. "Stay with me! You're still breathing! Stay with me!"

Weiss, in control of her body once more, staggered towards them both, but she was instantly blocked by six other Esper Rosenfloses, likely blade clones created by her semblance. The small squad was on her in an instant, smacking Myrtenaster from her grasp and sweeping her legs out from under her before she could even realize what was happening. From there, the two suited specialists took over, wrenching her hands behind her back and binding them in a gravity dust bolo.

"Weiss Schnee," one of them said. "You are under arrest."

* * *

 **I considered putting another chapter between this one and the last to act as a breather, but I figured that first section at the top would serve well enough. Plus, it shows Cinder desperately trying to be a friendly and empathetic person. Rest assured, it is going to take more than this to actually make the CME trio into legitimate friends, but this marks the point when Cinder is giving it her best shot, if only to please her Teacher and Salem.**

 **Meanwhile in Atlas, the good guys start to figure out the game, but they're not fast enough to stop the start of Teacher and Watts' Phase Two. For the record, Whitley is not dead, those present knew enough field medicine to keep him alive until paramedics arrived, but he will be in the hospital for a bit.**

 **And what controlled Weiss' body to stab him should be quite obvious, and terrifying, to Fairy Tail fans.**

 **Please feel free to check out the TvTropes Page! As a first for one of my stories, it has an Awesome Moments page, so don't let it be incomplete. Head on over and add any trope or awesome moment you see to the list!**

 **An extra huge thank you to my patrons: ArcherMcMuffin, Gregg Tracton, Keith Traction, Annaya Chan, Nora Okonus, Paula mandel, KefkaesqueXIII, Christian Howard, SanyaBane, and Matthew Blevins.**

 **Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!**

 **Go Forth and Conquer!**


	30. Chapter 29

**So, evidently sitting around in a hospital is actually a really good environment for writing. My grandmother has passed, may she rest in peace. However, that has led to a whole bunch of family events this week that I had not thought of. So while I was able to defy my expectations and put out a chapter this week, there will for sure not be a chapter this week... probably. I don't know. But don't expect one this week, that's what I'm trying to say.**

 **On a happier note, Volume 7 has finished and it was awesome! At the moment, my personal favorite Volume.**

 **If you wish to support me and my college tuition, please check out my P a treon for future chapter summaries, story ideas and more: p a Treon.(c om) (backslash) themaster4444**

 **Beta-ed by xenosaiyan**

* * *

" _Breaking News! Schnee Manor Bombed! SDC CEO and wife murdered! General Ironwood in critical condition!"_

" _Just hours ago, Atlas was rocked when Schnee Manor was completely destroyed by a bomb. Among confirmed casualties are Schnee Dust Company CEO and controversial tycoon Jacques Schnee, as well as his wife of twenty-two years Willow Schnee and family butler Klein Sieben. General James Ironwood, who was reportedly there to discuss tomorrow's dust embargo vote, was also caught in the blast. He was recovered from the rubble and rushed to Nicholas Schnee Memorial Hospital, where he remains in critical condition."_

" _Yet, as stunning as this tragedy was, a far more shocking revelation came in the aftermath. Whitley Schnee, youngest child of the late Jacques and Willow, bravely rushing into the ruins to search for survivors. However, he was attacked and stabbed, in full view of Council Chairwoman Rosenflos and her security detail. Mr. Schnee was also rushed to Nicholas Memorial, where he has yet to regain consciousness."_

" _The most appalling revelation of all was that Mr. Schnee's attacker was none other than his sister, the darling starlet of Atlas, Weiss Schnee! Ms. Schnee was immediately arrested by Madam Rosenflos' security detail and is in council custody. Whether she was involved in the bombing is currently being investigated. We bring you now to our military expert, ex-Specialist Commander Charles Obsidian. Mr. Obsidian, thank you for joining us."_

" _Pleasure to be here, Tom, though I wish it were under better circumstances."_

" _Indeed. Why do think Ms. Schnee would commit such a heinous crime, Mr. Obsidian. Just days ago, she became the hero of the kingdom when she stopped a White Fang attack on the SDC surplus compound and killed Adam Taurus himself."_

" _It is interesting you bring up that incident, Tom, because something about that night has been peaking at the back of my mind for days now. Why was she there? She wasn't a licensed huntress. She held no position at the SDC. How did she end up there right as the Blood-Soaked Bull came storming in?"_

" _You aren't suggesting that Ms. Schnee was working with Taurus, are you?"_

" _No, not Taurus. She did do us the favor of putting down that rabid animal. But he and Sienna Khan have been on the outs since the Fall of Beacon. And say what you will of Khan's activities, the tiger is smart. If she wanted to dispose of a problematic rival without losing support, how better than to have him publicly humiliated by a girl who never even graduated from Beacon?"_

" _Interesting theory. Though some would say it's merely conspiracy. Do you have any proof of this?"_

" _No. I will leave the burden of proof to the official investigation. All I can say is that being found next to a secret tunnel of the manor grounds, stabbing her brother, and having an association with a known White Fang operative, it does not look good for the young Ms. Schnee."_

" _A known White Fang operative?"_

" _Indeed, Tom. A young girl named Blake Belladonna…"_

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' _What have you done, Arthur?! I had the situation well in hand!'_

" _Forgive me, ma'am, but you did not. For all your wonderful qualities, you have a bad habit of sentimentality. You were unable to get the Schnee girl to come to you and we were out time."_

' _So you kill Klein when I had him well in hand and hijack my failsafe!? Do you know what I had to have Weiss do to Whitley to compensate for your recklessness?"_

" _I have seen the news, yes. And it only proves my point. You care for children far too much and we could stall no longer. Recall it was you who said that the embargo vote was our golden opportunity."_

'… _very well, Arthur. But no more deviations. We do this exactly according to plan. It's the only way we might be able to salvage Weiss' reputation.'_

" _Have no fear ma'am. The masses are fickle creatures. A week ago, she was a socialite, then a hero, and now a terrorist. Turning her back into a victim and then a hero once more will be child's play."_

' _You better be right, for your sake. The Queen will not be pleased by such a blunder.'_

" _No, I suppose she won't. With any luck, the rest of your plan will make up for it."_

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Dr. Eir shook his head as the tv prattled on. He had half a mind to have them all shut off throughout the hospital. So much negative dribble wasn't good for the patients.

Sure, he could understand some of it, what had happened was a tragedy and if the Schnee girl was behind everything like they were supposing, she would get what was coming to her. But some of those tabloid bastards had the gall to say General Ironwood deserved what he got, that this was some sort of divine karma for the dust embargo and closing the borders. They were certainly in the minority, speaking so blatantly ill of an attacked public official was never in good taste but it made the doctor's blood boil.

He'd served in the Atlesian military, done time as field medic on an escort convoy guarding a shipment bound for Argus. He still remembered the terror that had run through him when a gargantuan Leviathan had emerged from the depths of the ocean, ready to capsize every last ship. And he still remembered when the general had gotten on a gunship and single-handedly drawn the monster's attention until the Argus Colossus could arrive and put the Grimm down for good. There was no glory in it, no reward. He could have ordered any of them to do it, and they would have had to obey. But the general put the mission before himself and saved all their lives.

The kingdom had suffered because of the embargo, Mantle especially. But Dr. Eir had no doubt that James Ironwood was not a tyrant. What he did, he did because he believed it was the right thing for everyone.

Which was why Eir had spent all night laboring over the general's broken form. His aura had absorbed a good chunk of the bomb blast, he wasn't burnt to a charred husk like the poor Schnees, but he was laid out on a bed in their best room, dozens of tubes and cables sticking out of his chest. At his left, a heart monitor beat a weak, flickering pulse.

It came as no great surprise to Eir when it flatlined. He did his best to resuscitate the general, but each spark of the defibrillator received no response.

"Call it," he sighed to his nurse. "Time of death, seven twenty-eight AM."

That was it. They had done all they could, and a great man had passed.

Which made it all the more befuddling when the nurses he'd assigned to remove the body had reported that there had been no corpse to remove.

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"Winter, for the last time, no!"

"Madam Chairwoman, please," Winter protested. "She's my sister! I know her! She wouldn't do something like this!"

Esper sighed. She shuffled a series of papers off to the side of her desk and rose from her seat. "Look, from what you've told me and what I've seen of her in action, she isn't dumb enough to stab Whitley in plain view of myself and my security detail. I am well aware that _something_ must be going on here."

"Then why won't you let me see her?!" Winter demanded, slamming her palms on the desk. "If you would just let me see her then—"

"The legal case would be irreparably marred by allowing the sibling of the accused, daughter of two of the dead, and subordinate to a third, to in any way be involved in the investigation," Esper pointed out, rubbing circles in her temples. "Not that figuring out who _can_ be involved is any easier. This is a matter of national security, so the police are out of their depth. Weiss is your sister, and Whitley was my assistant, so I can't assign it to the Specialists or motion for a council task force."

"So you'll leave her fate in the hands of Atlas Intelligence?!" Winter screeched. "You've seen the media! Someone's been slipping them information they shouldn't have, and you know it's COMMAND ESR!"

"I know!" Esper shouted. Winter staggered back. It wasn't often that her mentor raised her voice.

Even still, it did not last. The golden-eyed woman's face fell into her palm. "I'm sorry, Winter. The rest of the council has pushed to hold the embargo vote despite what happened, and with James gone…"

"It's sure to pass," Winter finished. Which meant that the Amity Tower project was in danger of being exposed. Whoever became general next would have full access to Ironwood's files and none of his knowledge of Salem.

Esper nodded. "Under different circumstances, I would consider that a victory. But that's not an excuse, especially since you… well… how are you holding up?"

Winter glanced to the side, suddenly feeling like that little who didn't understand why her grandfather had to be buried when he hadn't met her little sister yet. Except back then, she'd had her mother to hold her hand.

She'd known her mother when Willow Schnee was the most radiant and beautiful woman Atlas had ever seen, the daughter of Nicholas Schnee, a jolly man who could practically do no wrong. And she'd had to watch as decades under Jacques' thumb had worn her down into the alcoholic mess who'd hidden herself in the gardens more often than not.

Now, she wasn't hiding. She was just… gone. And Winter never got to say goodbye.

But… but, she didn't have time to mourn. Someone had tried to kill her brother and framed her sister for terrorism and murder. She was the big sibling. She'd had varying degrees of success in that role over the course of her life, but she would not fail them now.

"I'm managing. My duty comes first."

Esper shot her a sympathetic smile. "You're not a machine, Winter."

"I also can't leave my siblings to the wolves," the Specialist Commander declared. "I saw the report Intelligence filed. There was no mention of any missing dust."

Esper picked up a pair of papers. "And yet, each news station seems to be getting the SDC report that says there was."

Winter was about to respond that such a thing just made it even more obvious that Intelligence was involved, but she stopped when her eyes noticed another set of papers on the desk with a pair of distinctive signatures on it.

"A motion for emergency powers?" she muttered, snatching up the document. "The council has already signed it except for General Ironwood and…" she glanced up at the other woman, "…you."

Esper looked away, flush with shame.

"Why?" Winter asked. "If you had emergency powers you could… you could do anything. You could drop the case against Weiss, bring COMMAND to account—"

"I will not use this crisis as an excuse to grab power."

"They are emergency powers! They are meant to be used in an emergency!" Winter protested, smacking the paper. "You've been handed a gun at Intelligence's head and you won't load it."

Esper was about to respond when her scroll suddenly buzzed. She tugged it out and frowned at what she saw. "Because if I gained the power of a dictator, it would be all too easy for COMMAND ESR to paint me as a tyrant to the public."

She handed the scroll to Winter and the specialist immediately paled, a video of Weiss towering over their father in his office, a black ice sword in her hand.

"… _you have one week to transfer your ownership and shares in my family's company to me and get out of this house," Weiss demanded. "Otherwise, it won't end well for you."_

" _You… you dare attempt to blackmail me?"_

" _Now, father, I believe we already established that I was threatening you."_

Winter felt her hopes plummet from the city in the sky. "Who sent this?"

Esper retrieved her phone. "The sender is blocked but given that they sent two versions of the video and one contains liberal mention of the events of Godmother's Haven, I assume the obvious."

"Where did Intelligence even get this?" Winter moaned. "What even is _this_?"

"Your mother's failsafe."

"What?"

Esper sighed. "Willow installed cameras around the mansion in order to keep track of your father's movements, to help keep out of the way when he was being particularly… him. I helped her acquire the Intelligence technology to make sure Jacques wouldn't spot them and set up an offsite server to store the video just in case. COMMAND ESR must have been following my movements closer than I thought."

"And she can edit them however she likes to keep the kingdom's secrets and paint Weiss in the worst light possible," Winter growled, clenching her hands into fists.

"COMMAND ESR excels at manipulating perception," Esper noted. "Which is why we can leave her no openings. I am fully within my rights to divulge Weiss' association with Intelligence to the rest of the council. After we end this embargo, we can keep them from monopolizing the investigation. We will make sure you are promoted to general, expose their deceptions, and discover exactly how they made Weiss stab Whitley."

A knock on the door halted any further conversation. Whitley's substitute, a nervous boy of average face, called through the office door. The council meeting was about to begin.

Esper gathered up her papers and bid Winter goodbye, a sentiment the Specialist Commander found she couldn't return with much sincerity.

Her mentor was being helpful, but far too cautious in some ways and not nearly cautious enough ways she didn't know to be. She thought this was a matter of a corrupt government assassin launching a nationalist takeover. She had no idea of the mystical forces at work.

And they were at work. She didn't know how exactly Salem was involved in this mess, but she had been behind Cinder and Cinder had coerced Adam at Beacon. It was possible that Sienna Khan had just sent the Blood-Soaked Bull on a suicide mission, but when Intelligence had so effortlessly maneuvered their plans around his actions and plotted the break-in at Polendina Labs, she doubted it. And only some sort of magic could have made Weiss stab Whitley without provocation in front of several respected witnesses. Even if it wasn't morally reprehensible, it was just a dumb plan for an assassination.

Unfortunately, Winter was not nearly experienced enough with mystical matters to have even the slightest idea of how to combat this threat. The general, her implacable rock, the man she wished had been her father, was gone, caught completely off-guard. She would never succeed in saving her siblings and her kingdom alone in such circumstances. However, she was not alone. That is if she could trust him.

But she didn't have much of a choice. After all, at the very worst, he was the least untrustworthy.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

' _We'll need to move quickly. Our enemies are not stupid.'_

" _I beg to differ on that account."_

' _Push Winter or Gray into a corner without proper preparation, and they'll freeze over the entire kingdom to free Weiss. We need to consolidate our gains and secure the maiden before they have time to formulate a response.'_

" _My puppets are getting into position. How about yours?"_

' _Eleanor has enough information to play her part. All eyes will be exactly where we need them to be.'_

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

"Again, thank you so much for this, sir."

Clover waved Marrow off. "I told you, don't worry about it."

The dog faunus shrunk back into the shotgun seat of Clover's car, looking all too embarrassed. His team leader playfully rolled his eyes.

The Ace Ops weren't friends in the traditional sense. They were a team because they were the best, not the best because they were a team. Harriet especially did her best to keep things strictly professional.

But Clover was the leader. It was his job to keep things running smoothly, and that meant making sure the others all knew they could come to him with any problems they had. Unless they'd done something really stupid, at which point he would report them for court-martial and act as a character witness that whatever had occurred was just a mistake, one that their years of decorated service could allow to be overlooked.

Marrow's car breaking down and him needing a ride into work was not nearly so bad. You know, terrible circumstances of the day not taken into account.

"So… what's our next move?" the dog faunus shyly inquired. "With the general gone, what do we do about Salem? Amity Tower? The Winter Maiden?"

Clover sighed. "For now, nothing. We need to contain the current problem first. Commander Schnee will give us our orders regarding the bigger picture as soon as she's decided on a course of action."

"Are you sure she's up for it?" Marrow asked, their car sliding from a crawl to complete stop behind a hauler truck. "Not that I don't trust Winter, but everything that just happened with her family, and what people are saying about her sister—"

"If she needs support, we'll give it to her," Clover replied. "We do our jobs, and we keep the kingdom safe. Whatever it takes."

Marrow nodded. "Whatever it takes." The dog faunus glanced out the window. "Is there normally this much traffic around here?"

Clover shrugged. "Don't know. I never really hit traffic."

"What do you mean you never…" Marrow's face fell. "With all due respect sir, your semblance is bullshit."

"It is rather useful," Clover grinned.

Unfortunately, it only took a minute of barely making any progress on the road for Clover to realize something was up. He knew that his semblance wasn't a catch-all to all of life's problems, he'd still had to train to be huntsman and good luck wouldn't kill every Grimm on the planet if all he did was stand still in their general area. But it generally took care of small things. He'd never stubbed a toe, he'd never been gotten a toy he didn't like from a claw machine, and he _never_ hit traffic. Now, he and Marrow were suddenly moving slower than a snail when they were supposed to be at the Specialist Barracks in half an hour?

His state-issued scroll buzzed off, the caller ID reading Harriet. But as soon as he reached for the device, it fizzled and died in a burst of sparks.

"What the heck?" Marrow muttered. "What was that?"

"Call Harriet," Clover ordered. "Or Elm, or Vine, any of them."

Like the expert soldier he was, Marrow got his scroll out immediately. And just like Clover's, it shorted out immediately.

"Okay, I just had logistics go over this thing two weeks ago," the dog faunus said. "What's going on?"

Clover scowled. He tossed his scroll to Marrow. "Take them apart. Look for sabotage."

The dog faunus nodded and got to work. Meanwhile, Clover tugged the car to the side, looking for any opportunity to get out of the cramped road. Maybe he could find a side street, or even just pull over to the sidewalk.

As he feared, there was nothing, every possible opening filled by a car or truck. Clover hoped it was just a coincidence, that it really was sabotage that had stalled Marrow's car and broken their scrolls. Because otherwise, it was his semblance giving him the good luck of doing everything in its power to keep him out of contact with and away from the Specialist Barracks.

Which was a problem when the rest of his team, and most of the corps, was already there.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

"Ow." Gray groaned, white light pouring into his vision.

It took a moment for his eyes to adjust, eventually coming to recognize that he was in one of the sterile Atlas hospitals he'd heard so much about. It was a lot less homely than Porlyusica's hut or the guild's infirmary, but he couldn't deny it was getting the job done. He sat up in his bed, tearing off the clutter of wires and tubes attached to his body.

"Woah, slow down there, hotshot. You just got blown up. Take a second to get yourself together."

Gray's eyes flickered to his bedside, Ana Tremaine, of all people, sat at his bedside, setting a syringe on the nearby table.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded. "Where's Weiss?"

"Winter wanted someone who wasn't Intelligence to watch over you and the Ace Ops were either dealing with the fallout all night or on their way to relieve the rest who had been working all night," Ana explained, though her face turned sour right after. "As for Weiss… last I heard, Glacial Cliffs Military Prison."

"What?! Why?!"

"She's a huntress-in-training. A regular jail couldn't hold her—"

"No! I mean why is she in prison?!" Gray roared. He leapt to his feet, pushing through the spout of dizziness that instantly fell over him. He reached his hand onto the wall to steady himself.

"Again, you just got blown up," Ana repeated. "And Weiss is in prison because she stabbed her brother right after said blowing up. And if the news is correct, also caused said blowing up."

"They're saying _what_!?" Gray exclaimed. "That's bullshit!"

"On that at least, we agree."

Both of them whirled around to the door of the room. Ana shot to her feet and saluted. "Winter! Ma'am!"

The elder Schnee marched into the suite. She stared at Gray as if he was a particularly unpleasant gnat that had buzzed onto her hand.

"Specialist Tremaine," she spoke, her eyes never leaving the ice wizard. "Report."

"Yes, commander!" Ana said. "As expected, Intelligence attempted to retrieve their agent, but I was able to call in a favor with Agent Tremaine to get him in our custody for the next twelve hours. I've swept the room and surrounding halls three times. There are no hidden cameras or listening devices."

"Very good," Winter replied. "Please keep watch outside. I need to have a few words with Agent Fullbuster in private."

"Yes, ma'am!"

Ana proceeded to do just that, leaving the room and shutting the thick door behind her, a prompt action that left Gray even more worried. What little he'd seen of the redhead had made her seem like a more haunted version of Cana. If she was acting so serious…

"Weiss wouldn't try to kill her brother," he said. "Someone's manipulating this behind the scenes."

"Oh really?" Winter replied, never removing her glare. "And what makes you say that?"

"She's my friend! I know her! She wouldn't do something like this," Gray's eyes narrowed at the specialist. "How could _you_ think she ever would?"

"I don't. I have no doubt that someone is framing Weiss," Winter said. "What I want to know, is why you think that. And whose side you're really on."

"You think I had something to do with this?!"

"I know you were the one who introduced Weiss to Atlas Intelligence and the one who asked me to look into Godmother's Haven. And that Weiss claimed she had no control of her body when she stabbed Whitley. Now, there might be a semblance out there that could do that, but none of the witnesses possessed one. But if they were to have some sort of magic, then no one would know."

That pricked something in the back of Gray's head, something from when Weiss had told him about Salem. And her minions.

"There are magics that can take control of people's bodies," he muttered, working through himself as much as he was explaining it to Winter. "But they all require special tools. Tools that I doubt would exist here. And even then, I've spent enough time around them to be able to sense them. They're not exactly subtle with their magic energy. But… no. That's impossible."

Winter raised an eyebrow. "What is?"

"Salem's inner circle," Gray said. "Weiss said they're called her Gates, right?"

Winter nodded. "That's what the general told me."

Gray's frown grew. "I've known two different groups who go by that name. One would never do something like this, but the other was made up of the most powerful demons to ever live, each wielding a powerful curse."

"And you think these demons are involved?" Winter inquired.

"No, they're all dead," Gray shook his head. "But they were all connected to these books. They could be sealed inside them, have their essences changed through being rewritten…"

"Destroyed?"

"Yeah. We killed the demons, but we never found the books. We always just assumed that the connection worked both ways and they were destroyed," Gray's brow furrowed. "But we met a friend later, the same person who made the book that Team RWBY used to get back and forth from Earthland. She'd been studying Zeref's creations. She never mentioned if she had the rest of Tartaros' books but it's possible. And if they ended up here somehow—"

"Then those same curses could be in Salem's hands," Winter finished. "You do realize you have no proof of this."

Gray sighed, pushing himself off the wall to stand at his full height and looking the Specialist Commander straight in the eye. "Look, you don't trust me. You have no reason to trust me beyond Weiss' word, and people have obviously been manipulating her lately. All I can do is give you my word that I haven't been one of them."

"You just said I have no reason to trust you," Winter pointed out. "Why should I believe your word?"

Gray cringed. "Because I'm her friend. And it's my fault she's in this mess."

He'd come to her with Intelligence's offer. He hadn't trusted them, but he'd done it anyway, desperate to get to a familiar face after over a year alone in a foreign world. He couldn't bear the isolation, away from Juvia, Natsu, Erza, and the rest of Fairy Tail, not even knowing if he had anyway home. He'd gone to Weiss for help, even suggested that they leave outright. But it didn't matter what he'd said because just the fact that the offer had come through him had made her trust it more, just COMMAND had probably planned. She'd jumped into the lion's den because he'd held open the door.

Now, he had to get her out of it. And step one was getting her older sister to work with him. Winter had the knowledge to navigate Atlas' political landscape and he had the right magic to take care of Salem's demons once they found them. They needed each other.

Winter stared at him for a few tense moments, her hand on the hilt of her sword. At last, she sighed and let go of her weapon. "I believe you."

"Really?" Gray said. "I was expecting to have to argue a bit more before I convinced you."

"I've seen guilt on my own face in the mirror enough times to recognize it on someone else. And unlike the rest of Intelligence, you haven't had enough espionage training to fake it," Winter replied, rubbing her hand across her forehead. "At least, I hope."

Gray decided it was in his favor to not mention his successful year-long infiltration of Avatar.

"Thank you," he said. He strode over to one of the nearby tables and snatched up some cloths Ana must have laid out for him. "So, you've been out in the world more than I have? What's our next move?"

"For now, there's little we can," Winter informed him. "The council is in session, but once they're out, it will be up to us to root out whatever influence Salem has over Atlas Intelligence. With any luck, I'll be promoted to General Ironwood's position and be able to keep his files secure. Even with the dust embargo lifted, we might be able to continue a… a certain project of his and use it to draw out these Gates."

Gray raised an eyebrow. "You've got to give me more than that. I get keeping your superior's secrets safe, but how is this 'project' going to help us prove Weiss' innocence?"

"Because its end goal is revealing Salem's existence to the public."

Gray's eyes widened. "Oh. That could work. We could tell them about magic and curses and explain what happened."

"That was my line of thinking," Winter said. "There will be consequences, panic in the streets. But the general had already begun recalling our forces back to the kingdom to fortify for just such an event. But if we can use the knowledge of Intelligence's connection to Salem to at least discredit them, we can take control of the investigation and prove that this curse was in control of Weiss when she stabbed Whitley."

Gray grinned. "It's a start. Though… now that I think about it, what's Intelligence's plan?"

Winter raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean? They've killed my father and the general, two of the biggest obstacles to their influence in the kingdom—"

"But not _the_ biggest," Gray pointed out. "Chairwoman Rosenflos is as beloved as ever, and they shot Weiss' chances of rivaling her in the foot themselves. Even if they realized that Weiss wasn't going to play ball anymore after Taurus and decided to use her as the fall guy for Ironwood and Jacques' assassinations, how does that get rid of Esper?"

"I… don't know," Winter muttered. "The Gates, what other curses might they have at their disposal?"

"Um… it's been a while," Gray said, counting off on his fingers. "But I think explosions, natural disasters, giant thorns, Bane Particle clouds, necromancy—"

"Wait!" Winter cut in, suddenly panicked. "Bane Particles?"

"Yeah, they're this poison, extremely deadly, almost impossible to cure—"

"I know what they are," Winter said. "Intelligence uses them. A large amount was detected at Polendina Labs the night Weiss fought Adam Taurus."

Gray smacked his hand into his face. If Salem had access to Tartaros' curses and Intelligence had Bane Particles, that was the proof of their connection. "It was a distraction. Etherious are made of Bane Particles. And if one of them was at the lab… what did they take? What were they really after that night?"

"Dr. Pietro is going over that as we speak. Nothing appears to have been taken, but it was a direct line into Atlas' main systems. They could have done anything—"

The door to the room slammed open before Winter could finish. A frazzled redheaded specialist stormed in and made a beeline for the bedside table.

"Ana, I told you to wait outside—"

"Turn on Channel Three! Now!" the Tremaine shouted back. She herself had already located the remote and flipped on the room's television.

Winter and Gray's eyes widened.

"That's… that's not possible," Winter muttered. "He's gone and even if he wasn't… he would never do that!"

"We can worry about that later," Gray said, already rushing for the door. "We have to get down there, now!"

Winter and Ana whipped around and joined in his mad dash, the news headline flying over the television.

 _General Ironwood and Specialists barge into Council Meeting!_

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

Harriet Bree may have been a huntress, but she was a soldier first. She graduated top of her class from Atlas Academy, and immediately joined the kingdom's military, swiftly rising through the ranks until she was recruited into the Ace Ops, General Ironwood's personal squad. She was the best of the best, and she would never dream of using her hard-earned skills to be some glorified mercenary. She would follow her commander's orders until the very end and ensure that they brought true good into the world. Being told about Salem and the true danger afoot just meant that her job was even more important.

Which was why she alone among the team seemed to be able to keep their heads on straight during this mission.

"Is this legal?" Vine quietly queried as the team, minus Clover and Marrow but with the addition of scores of others, strode down the halls of the council building. Every few yards, a team of other less skilled specialists broke off and secured the area.

Harriet rolled her eyes. A small portion of the rest of the corps had asked that same question and refused to come on this mission. They'd been left behind at the barracks under the guard of Knights and Paladins. "You've read the guidelines more than any of us. You know it is."

"If the general declares martial law."

"Which he will once we break up this meeting. Which we will only need to do if they vote to lift the embargo."

"Which we are here to intimidate them into not doing. Not exactly democratic."

Harriet shrugged, another squad splitting off to escort some attendants away. "If democracy opens the gates for Salem, we're better off without it."

"People can complain about this all they want later, once we've saved them from the Grimm apocalypse," Elm said, Timber secure on her back. Her confidence wavered a moment later and she glanced at Harriet. "Any word from Clover or Marrow?"

Harriet shook her head. The three of them were on duty at the barracks, having spent the night handling the fallout from Schnee Manor, when the orders came down. Clover and Marrow had been supposed to come and relieve them, but they'd never shown, or responded when Harriet had attempted to contact them. Eventually, they'd had to set out without them.

Orders were orders, and they weren't school kids waiting for the line leader. Teacher was already leading the way.

"Cut the chatter back there," General Ironwood commanded. Despite having been at the center of an explosion the previous day and declared dead not a few hours ago, the Commander-in-Chief of Atlas barely looked worse for wear. The only signs of what he'd been through were that his beard had been singed off and the upper left side of his face was now marred with burn marks. "It's showtime."

At last, their party reduced to just the general and the three Ace Ops, they reached the doors to the council chambers. Four Atlesian Knights blocked the way, but the moment they visual sensors laid eyes on the general, their visual visors flashed red and they made to open the doors.

"Shouldn't they take our weapons? I thought these were Council Units," Vine noted. "Why do they recognize military authority?"

The general chuckled, his laugh as warm as Harriet remembered. "I do have two seats on the council, Vine."

Elm nudged the thin man, a small smile on her face. "Guess you shouldn't shove so many books in that big brain of yours after all. You're forgetting the real world."

Vine didn't look like he was going to laugh at the comment, but it didn't matter either way. The council doors swung wide open and they marched inside.

The Council Chambers, the center of Atlas Government, were as functional as the rest of the kingdom's architecture. Built when the government had moved from Mantle, it had an air of grandness about it, meant as the dawn of a new era. Stain glass windows depicting iconic scenes from the kingdom's history lined the walls. Marble column and deep blue carpets surround rows and rows of polished wooden pews, meant for observers, stenographers, or reporters when a meeting was open to the public. Currently, they were all occupied, the news cameras swinging towards the approaching soldiers while the dozens of Atlesian Knights guarding the chamber raised their rifles.

At the center of it all, straight down the center aisle, was the high table. Carved from the finest oaks in Forever Fall, the King of Vale had 'generously' gifted one such grand table to each of the councils he had forcibly established with the Vytal Treaty. It was made in a perfect circle, meant to symbolize the members' equal status with each other, though the Chairman's seat was the one that sat directly in front of the door. And as of current, the only one whose occupant had not turned towards the new arrivals.

"Motion thirty-nine-dash-B7, to lift the current dust embargo of the kingdom has passed," Madam Rosenflos declared, shuffling through the series of documents before her. "Now moving on to Motion thirty-nine-dash-B7, to allow for non-council permitted movement through the Kingdom of Atlas' borders."

"You can put me down for nay," General Ironwood proclaimed, marching up to the dais. The Ace Ops stood at attention at the base, their weapons in plain sight. "Two of them."

Rosenflos' head shot up, her eyes widening as soon as she recognized the general. A wide smile, almost childlike, blossomed across her face. "James? You're alive!"

"But how?" Councilman Sleet, an older man who'd been on the council longer than Harriet had been alive, muttered. "The hospital said—"

"Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated," General Ironwood informed them as he had them. "With the recent attempt on my life, I thought it would be prudent not to expose myself until this meeting."

"Paranoid as usual, I see," Councilwoman Camilla, a stout, dark-skinned woman said.

The general frowned. He pointed to the burnt skin on his face. "This was not caused by paranoia."

"Regardless, you are as of now, legally dead," Camilla noted. "And a ghost cannot hold a seat on this council. Or command our military."

To either side her, Harriet caught Elm and Vine bristle. Despite how unprofessional it was, she couldn't keep her own eyes from narrowing. How dare this arrogant sow dismiss the general like that? He had fought and bled for this kingdom, while all she'd done was convince some drunks down in Mantle to vote for her.

"Camilla, please. Such semantics are beneath us. This is a miracle," Madam Rosenflos waved down. "Take a seat, James."

The general smiled, but he didn't take a seat. "With pleasure. As soon as we return to the previous item on the docket."

Rosenflos cringed. Harriet felt sympathy for Chairwoman. She knew exactly what was coming.

"We have a great deal of business to cover, James," Councilman Sleet said. "If you wanted to vote on your asinine embargo, you should have gotten here on time instead of playing parlor tricks."

"Councilman Sleet," Rosenflos said, her eyes flickering towards the Ace Ops and their weapons. "Perhaps we should endeavor to keep a more civil tone."

Councilman Sleet glared at the general, but he took a deep breath. "Yes. Yes, you are correct, Madam Chairwoman. General, I apologize for my outburst. This day has been a tiring one."

"I am well aware of that, Councilman," the general replied.

"Well then, take a seat then, general," Councilwoman Camilla said, implicitly retracting her earlier insult. She sent a worried glance towards the Ace Ops. "We can continue as soon as your men leave the room."

"We can continue from the embargo vote. Now," General Ironwood challenged.

"James," Madam Rosenflos said. "Your soldiers have every right to obverse the council's proceedings. But they must leave their weapons outside."

"They are necessary for security purposes."

"We are in the heart of the kingdom!" Councilman Sleet protested, jumping to his feet. "This isn't security! This is intimidation!"

"Councilman, restrain yourself!" Rosenflos commanded, Sleet instantly going silently. She turned her glare on the general. "James, have your men relinquished their weapons. Now."

"Will we return to the embargo vote?"

"No. That vote has concluded."

"Then you have my apologies, Esper," the general said. He stood to his full height, towering over the rest. "In light of the recent string attacks on this kingdom, I am declaring martial law."

Harriet sighed, the frantic murmurings of the reporters and observers humming through her ears from behind. She had hoped it wouldn't come to this, but if it was necessary, then they would do what must be done.

Unfortunately, the politicians didn't see it that way.

"Outrageous!" Sleet yelled.

"Tyrant!" Camilla screamed.

"Silence!" Madam Rosenflos commanded. And just like that, the thrum of panic ceased. There was still a palpable tension in the air, a barrel of fire dust just waiting for a spark, but the civilians had stopped spasming about it. Harriet begrudgingly conceded the Chairwoman's aura of command was quite impressive. Her time in the specialists had served her well.

Now that the ants had stopped their crawling, the two giants, Ironwood and Rosenflos, stared each other down.

"James, the events of yesterday were a tragedy, an act of terrorism that shall forever be remembered as a black day in our kingdom's history," the Council Chairwoman calmly stated. "But it is not nearly enough grounds for martial law, especially when there is already a suspect in custody."

"And yet, I am declaring it," the general proclaimed.

"You cannot," she repeated.

For a long moment, the two huntsmen stared at each other, each with a will of iron, neither budging an inch. At last, the general spoke once more.

"Ace Ops. Take the council into custody."

Harriet nodded, Fast Knuckles deploying along her arms as her semblance sparked across her body. Elm drew Timber while Vine reluctantly summoned up the golden glow of his semblance arms. Their job wasn't always easy, but for the good of the kingdom, for humanity as a whole, they could not allow Salem to learn of the Amity Project, no matter what.

Madam Rosenflos didn't see it that way. "So, it's treason then. Guards!"

The Atlesian Knights surrounding the chamber marched forward, their rifles drawn and ready. Harriet scoffed. She could take down squads of these robots on her own. A few dozen against half the Ace Ops and the general? When Rosenflos was unarmed? This wouldn't take long. They would have the council in custody and get the martial law administration set up in the blink of an eye—

The visors of the Atlesian Knights turned red. The robots pivoted and their guns were no longer aimed at the Ace Ops.

"What in the world—" Councilwoman Camilla shouted.

Rosenflos was quicker. The moment she saw the Knights turn, she kicked the high table, launching the massive structure upright to act as a shield just as the robots opened fire, snatching the other council members by the arm and dragging them to safety. The reporters and observers screamed, the crowd making a mad dash for the door, unaware of the specialists on the other side occupying the building. Harriet, to her shame, was too shocked by the Council Units suddenly turning on their masters to act for a second, her teammates just as stunned.

General Ironwood was not so. He raised his white revolver, Due Process, and fired six shots straight through the wooden shield. A short howl of agony sounded from behind the barrier.

"Sir!" Vine protested.

"Move in," Ironwood commanded. "Take them."

Harriet's soldier's instincts kicked in. Her semblance flared up and she dashed around the flank, ducking under the Knights fire. Elm charged straight on, Timber raised to smash right through the high table.

However, just as the large huntress was mid-step, unable to anchor in with her semblance, the table was launched out towards her. The experienced soldier battered the wooden mess aside easily, but Rosenflos, carrying Camilla on her back, dashed through the splinters and rushed under the hammer swing.

Harriet glanced where they had been and instantly found her answer for why the Chairwoman hadn't tried to carry Sleet out. The general's shots had found their mark.

It was a tragedy. But a smaller one than would occur if Salem came for Atlas. They needed to finish this now, preferably before anyone else got killed.

Rosenflos and Camilla made for the door, but Vine obstructed their path, extending his ghostly semblance arms to keep them from going around.

"Madam Chairwoman," he said. "Please surrender. You will not be harmed."

Harriet zipped in front of her teammate, at the ready to deal with any tricks Rosenflos might try. The golden-eyed woman glanced back at Sleet's body as the general and Elm brought up the rear. She extended her arm to shield the cowering Camilla, the Council Knights, somehow on their side, circled the lot of them.

"Forgive me, specialist," she replied, dropping into a fighting stance. "But I don't place much stock in your word right now."

"Doesn't look like you have much of a choice," Harriet noted, readying Fast Knuckles for a brawl. "You're unarmed, outnumbered, and your semblance is useless without a blade."

"Yup," Rosenflos concurred, glaring daggers at them all. "Which means I might actually break a sweat."

Vine sighed, but Harriet didn't waste the breath. Neither did Elm or the general, merely raising their weapons. It didn't matter if others didn't understand, or even if they hated them. Their job was to make someone was around to hate them later. If that meant making the hard choices, so be it.

Suddenly, one of the stain glass windows hanging above the room shattered. Harriet glanced over to the sound, only for her eyes to widen when a massive cat made out of fire charged out of the scattered shards, the familiar figure of Eleanor Tremaine right behind it, guns drawn.

"Lucifer!" she shouted. "Protect the council!"

Harriet scowled, taking the barest fraction of a second to confirm Elm had already pivoted to handle the new threat, Timber shifting into its rocket launcher form to blow the Intelligence Agent away. She immediately turned back to watching the two councilwomen, only for her eyes to widen as Drizzella Tremaine rose up from Camilla's shadow, her pistols taking aim at the Ace Ops. She didn't even have the time to be surprised before she was shoved hard to the side, Rosenflos racing for Vine and punching him square in the face.

The huntress scowled. What the hell were Intelligence doing here? Even if they'd seen the news broadcast when the corps had entered the council building, they hadn't had near enough time to make it all the way here. Had they already been on their way? Why?

No, it didn't matter. They had a job to do. The Tremaines showing up was a complication, but not an insurmountable one. Combined with Rosenflos, who the Intelligence Agents would have no coordination with, it was still three huntsmen against four, plus the Atlesian Knights. As long as the general was with them, they still had this well in hand.

Which was her thought right before General Ironwood's body went completely limp. The titanic giant of a man, so full of indomitable will only a minute before, tumbled to the ground, dead. And Harriet couldn't for the life of her figure out why.

She didn't have much time to wonder either. She rushed in to engage Drizzella Tremaine, the Atlesian Knights turning their rifles on the center of the battle.

It was only as the bullets raked her aura to shreds and Drizzella fired three rounds rapid into her unprotected chest, that she realized the robots' visors had gone back to normal.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

"No, no, no, no, no…"

Pietro Polendina was usually a calm man. He found that despite the little things in life that rubbed him the wrong way, the setbacks and disappointments, there was just too much wonder in the world to get upset about all the other stuff. He had brought a life into the world! A beautiful, sweet little girl with a heart bigger than all of Remnant! Yes, she'd gotten grievously hurt during the Fall of Beacon, but that hadn't stopped them! He'd rebuilt his girl better than ever using his own methods, and from data he'd gleaned from the Relic of Creation. After her birth the first time had released a massive reaction of what he'd later learn was magic, General Ironwood had been incredibly eager to see how he could improve her. How she could better protect the world against the shadowy enemies that were lurking just out of sight.

But then those enemies had infiltrated their city, and the general had been murdered, then risen from the dead to attempt a coup against the Council. Now, staring at what exactly the Intelligence intruder had planted in his systems that night, Pietro was finding it very hard to remain calm.

"This virus," he muttered. "It's just like the one at Beacon. But more advanced."

"I'm so glad you noticed. I put an awful lot of work into it."

Pietro's chair whirled around, his eyes widening as a cloud of black smoke churned before him. If possible, they became even larger when the smog manifested into a very familiar figure.

"Arthur," he murmured, his old colleague, his supposedly _dead_ colleague, standing before him. The coding patterns of the virus, so skillful, so elegant, so perfectly crafted to subvert Atlas technology, suddenly made far too much sense. "How?"

Arthur smirked, that arrogant expression he donned so casually and so often. "How, what, you oaf? How did I survive the Paladin Incident? Through my wits, of course. How did I get my virus past your defenses? I must admit, you had some modicum of skill in that regard. I had to insert it directly from your own terminal. How do I appear before you out of thin air? Well, that is the most interesting answer of all. Suffice to say…"

The smarmy scientist dissolved into gas and darted forward, manifesting solid once more and shoving his face into Pietro's with a manic grin. "There is far more to this world than your minuscule mind could ever begin to conceive."

Doctor Polendina would not deny that he was sweating under the situation. He was not a man of violence. He'd never liked hurting people, and stress wasn't something he particularly thrived under. But he was an intelligent man, and that intelligence had not failed him yet, allowing him to quickly analyze the abysmal situation he'd found himself in.

One, Arthur Watts was alive and working with the terrorist forces of the Queen of the Grimm. They had infiltrated Atlas Intelligence and murdered General Ironwood. then used some black magic to raise him from the dead to turn the council and the military against each other.

Two, he had infected Atlas' central systems with an upgraded version of the Black Queen Virus used at the Vytal Festival. He likely had complete control of all the kingdom's main cyber operations and full knowledge of Pietro's files (barring his private ones on his daughter), including the Amity Project.

Three, due to the sprawling chaos caused by the first two points… no one was coming to help him. All except one.

But Arthur wasn't the middling combatant he'd once known. If he was, the defensive systems Pietro had installed in his chair would be more than enough to handle him. But his transformation, the Bane Particles he'd left behind, he was no longer even human. He was a monster.

And what father asked his daughter to face a monster just to save his own skin?

Pietro's hand typed a quick message on the computer installed in the arm of his chair. Arthur smirked drew his revolver, the chair's automated lasers unloading to defend their creator. It was not enough.

Before long, the good doctor plummeted to the ground, his chair a pile of scrap beside him, his last message flickering across its screen.

 _Atlas Government compromised. Find your friends._

 _Love,_

 _Father._

Fortunately, the words were erased from the sender's log before Arthur could see them. He never was one for the finer details when there was gloating to be done.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

Fria couldn't remember the last time she was awoken by such noise. That nice girl that would come to visit her so often, she was always so quiet, so professional. The general had taught her well, that Wi… that Win…

Oh, dear. She was sure she'd known her name. She was so kind.

There was a great deal of noise echoing out from the hall, some sort of tussle if she wasn't mistaken. Perhaps she should get involved?

No. She had a mission, a duty. She was to protect the Winter Maiden's power. Protect it until it was time to pass it on. Besides, with her frail old bones, she wouldn't be much use in a fight anyway, not unless she wanted to freeze the people she was trying to help as well.

They'd be alright. And if they weren't, they were just robots after all.

Little Jimmy… he did love his robots.

At last, the noise stopped. A moment later, the door opened.

It wasn't Win… the white-haired girl. This woman had no hair, none that could be seen behind her black hood. She wore a dim gray uniform, a silver medal over her breast. And a familiar mask bearing the kingdom's symbol, a staff Fria knew all too well.

"COMMAND?" Fria whispered, cocking her head to the side. "COMMAND THV?"

No, wait… had her commanding officer been a woman?

The one wearing Intelligence's prized mask shook her head. "I'm sorry, Special Agent Thorston. Your COMMAND passed decades ago."

"Did he?" Fria muttered, glancing down at her hands. "I guess my memory… isn't as good as it used to be."

The woman, the new COMMAND, walked over and took a seat on her bed. She gently clasped the Winter Maiden's hands in her own. "You have lived a long and kind life, Special Agent Thorston. Saved countless lives. You have done your duty well. Now, I need you to do it one last time."

"My… duty…" Fria said. She suddenly found she couldn't move her body. Perhaps her old muscles had given out on her at last. She looked up to the masked woman, the symbol of Atlas staring her in the face.

Strange. It had never looked so… kind before.

"I have a duty," she repeated. "Are you the one it is to pass on to?"

The woman nodded. "For now. I have no desire for the power, but I will carry it until it can be brought to someone more suitable."

"So… you carry it out of duty as well." Fria chuckled. She took a deep breath and readied herself for what she knew was coming. "I'm ready."

The new COMMAND raised her hand, the palm facing Fria. "You are a true huntress, Special Agent Thorston. Thank you for your service and your sacrifice. I will try to make this as painless as possible."

The woman's black glove split in two and a strange Grimm beetle crawled out from beneath the fabric and the flesh under it.

Fria didn't have the time to think anything else before the insect spewed a glob of black webbing over her face and everything went dark.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

The scene Winter discovered upon entering the Council Chambers was that of a nightmare.

First, there were the specialists positioned throughout the main building, detaining any civilians that had been present before the disaster and containing those that fled the chamber. No one was injured, thank goodness, but it was not a good look for the corps. When Winter, Gray, and Ana had stormed inside and commanded them to release them, they had all politely declined. Orders from the general could not be overturned, even by her.

Before, she would have praised her men for their loyalty and devotion to the general and the chain of command. Now, she found it utterly infuriating.

Fortunately, or perhaps not so, they had enough faith in her that they did not question her when she lied that they had been ordered into the main chambers to assist. Her party was let through and they raced inside, praying they were not too late.

They were. They were far, _far_ too late.

General Ironwood and Harriet, Elm, and Vine of the Ace Ops all laid dead on the floor of Atlas' center of government, surrounded by the charred metal corpses of dozens of Atlesian Knights. The pews were scattered across the carpet, small brushfires sputtering all around the hall. And at the center of it all, Eleanor and Esper squared off, Drizzella shielding Councilwoman Camilla off to the side.

"Esper!" Winter shouted, terrified for her mentor.

To her horror, both the Chairwoman and the Intelligence Agents whirled around and glared bloody murder at her. Eleanor pivoted so that she was between Esper and the newcomers, raising her gun and summoning Lucifer to her side.

Winter and Gray froze in their tracks, both of them knowledgeable enough to know fighting in full view of the few reporters who cowered in the corners of the room would not help their case. Fortunately, Ana was mindful enough to jump in front of them, her mother's trigger finger hesitating just a moment.

"We're not a part of this!" Ana proclaimed. "We just got here! We came to help!"

"Help who?" Eleanor demanded.

"Did you know about this, Winter?!" Esper demanded, her hand twitching at her side.

"No!" Winter insisted.

"She wasn't anywhere near here!" Gray yelled. "She thought Ironwood was dead!"

"Who the hell are you?!" Esper shouted.

Eleanor lowered her pistol. "He's one of ours, Agent Gray Fullbuster. You can trust him."

"I don't know if I trust you!" Esper retorted. "You've made no secrets of your disdain for me."

"Madam Rosenflos," Councilwoman Camilla spoke up, staggering out from behind Drizzella. "They just saved our lives!"

"No, it is a reasonable suspicion. I don't like you and Intelligence has been compromised," Eleanor said. She glanced towards Gray. "COMMAND ESR ordered us to secure dust from the SDC surplus compound the night of Weiss' battle with Adam Taurus. When our official report to the general made no mention of it, I became suspicious, even more so when the Schnee Manor was destroyed last night."

Winter's heart soared. "So it wasn't Weiss!"

"Possibly. I don't know if your sister was involved or not," Eleanor replied, crushing those dreams all at once. "COMMAND specifically sought out to recruit her. Perhaps it was for her help getting the bomb inside."

"Weiss would never do that!" Gray shouted.

"Like I said, I do not know. This conspiracy runs deeps," Eleanor glanced at General Ironwood's body. "And it does not appear to be the only one."

"Enough!" Esper roared, silencing any further argument. Her gaze was softer now upon Winter, no longer believing she helped try to kill her. But she was still tense, as anyone would be after an assassination attempt on their life. Her eyes flickered between all present, including the reporters, at last taking a deep breath. "We all have a great deal to discuss, but this is not the place."

She steeled herself and strode forward, all attention in the ruined chamber drawn onto her. The skittish woman who'd just brushed with death disappeared, replaced by the giant of a statesman she was.

"Councilwoman Camilla," she said. "I understand what you must be feeling right now, but I need to know. Does your vote for Special Motion Sixty-Six SW still stand?"

"Sixt—" Camilla's eyes widened. She glanced towards the corpse of Councilman Sleet. She scowled and gave a firm nod. "Yes. You have my full support, Madam Rosenflos, as I'm sure you would have Sleet's."

Esper nodded. She took one more deep breath and held her head high. To the cameras, she must have looked like a goddess returned from a quest to the underworld.

"Then by the authority invested in me by this council and the united peoples of Atlas and Mantle, it is with great reluctance that I declare this kingdom to be in a state of crisis and accept full emergency powers," she declared. "For the duration of this crisis, all branches of civilian and military authority will report to me. To this kingdom's loyal citizens, I promise that the chaos of the last few days stops here."

She paused, her expression shifting from one of comfort to pure, undiluted wrath. "To the terrorists and traitors behind these tragedies, know that I am coming for you. As my first act with this new authority, I am issuing an arrest warrant for every traitor involved in today's coup attempt. Including COMMAND ESR."

* * *

 **So, the bad guys know enough not to give the heroes a second to get their bearings or they'll lose the momentum. They delayed only a day, and still, the good guys (slightly better guys? Eleanor is hardly a traditional hero) were able to prevent zombie Ironwood from usurping the council. They would have had Atlas in their grasp, but they'll have to settle for the consolation prize of the Winter Maiden.**

 **But, they've awoken Esper to action. Emergency powers don't have the best reputation in fiction (for good reason, looking at you Hitler and Palpatine), but if Esper has an unrestricted hand, Winter and Gray have an unrestricted hand. And that means as soon as they have the slightest proof of magic, they can use their knowledge of the Macro Curse as the public explanation for Weiss stabbing Whitley and get her out of prison.**

 **The chase is on. But without Pietro to even begin to counter Watts, how soon will the heroes be able to track down their enemies?**

 **Please feel free to check out the TvTropes Page! As a first for one of my stories, it has an Awesome Moments page, so don't let it be incomplete. Head on over and add any trope or awesome moment you see to the list!**

 **An extra huge thank you to my patrons: ArcherMcMuffin, Gregg Tracton, Keith Traction, Annaya Chan, Nora Okonus, Paula mandel, KefkaesqueXIII, Christian Howard, SanyaBane, and Matthew Blevins.**

 **Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!**

 **Go Forth and Conquer!**


	31. Chapter 30

**Just finished fighting off a cold. Due to that, I ended up not putting Blake's stuff in this chapter, but I actually think it's better off for it. Blake and Weiss' twin climaxes will form the climax of the Volume 4 arc as a whole, so their stuff will be better paired together. This will serve as a decompression chapter for Ruby's group and a good breather before everything goes down.**

 **Also, SPOILERS for the latest chapter of Fairy Tail Hundred-Year Quest.**

 **If you wish to support me and my college tuition, please check out my P a treon for future chapter summaries, story ideas and more: p a Treon.(c om) (backslash) themaster4444**

 **Beta-ed by xenosaiyan**

* * *

"The first time I saw them was… at least twenty years ago, now? Damn," Qrow said. "Oz had sent Raven and I to scope out the Grimmlands, see what Salem was cooking up. We'd only just gotten our magic and like any rookies with a new toy, we thought we were invincible. Made it to the castle without a single Grimm looking at us sideways."

He sighed, rubbing the back of his head to block out the memory. "Of course, once we were there, we learned that Oz's warnings about her having those who could sense magic on her side weren't for his health. The sky was lit up with so much fire… I'm still amazed we made it out alive."

They'd made camp about half a mile from Oniyuri. Qrow had wanted to go further, the Ophiuchus was still far too close, but Wendy and Jaune were simply too beaten up from the fight to go any farther without rest. Even now as he told his story, the two were engaged in a healing loop, fixing each other up through magic and aura.

The fact that the two were capable of doing so after what they'd just gone through spoke volumes of their capabilities. Especially the girl, given what Qrow was able to surmise of what they'd just learned.

"Fire," Carla muttered, collapsed against a tree trunk. "Natsu."

"It might not be," Ruby suggested. His niece nervously glanced at her guildmates. "I mean, he's hardly got a monopoly on fire magic. It could be anyone."

"Happy wouldn't be so loyal to just anyone," Carla pointed out.

"He said it was complicated," she countered. "Maybe she has him hostage."

Carla shook her head. "Ruby, you know Happy. You know Natsu. If one of them was held hostage, they wouldn't work for whoever had taken them. They'd burn the prison to the ground to rescue each other."

"But why else would they be working for Salem?"

"I don't know." Carla's gaze turned to Qrow. "Why would they?"

The huntsman sighed. He'd figured this was coming. "I don't know. From what you've told me, they don't seem the types to want to wipe out humanity."

"But is that what she's trying to do?" Carla inquired. "Happy brought up some good points. Why would the master of the Grimm need to stir up negativity to get them to attack somewhere?"

Ruby frowned. "Carla, how could you say that? She ordered Cinder to sack Beacon."

The white Exceed held up her paw. "I'm not saying she doesn't need to be stopped. She's clearly willing to commit atrocities to get what she wants and that cannot be allowed. But Happy, and if he is involved, Natsu, would never side with someone like that without _exceptional_ circumstances. And what we've been told doesn't necessarily line up with what we've seen."

Qrow snorted. "You think I lied to you?"

"No. You're not the type," Carla assured him. "But that doesn't mean you yourself haven't been misled."

"What are you talking about?"

"Who told you that Salem controlled the Grimm?"

Qrow rolled his eyes. "Ozpin. Plus, you know, I've seen her make Grimm before. She raises them up out of pools of mud or manufactures them in her lab."

"Then why hasn't she won already? Why hasn't she wiped out the human race?" Carla asked. "She has an infinite army, and for the last few decades she's had this Ophiuchus, who is clearly more powerful than any wizard Ozpin can muster. Whatever the Relics or the maidens are capable of, she should have overwhelmed humanity by now if she was even the slightest bit a competent strategist."

"Ozpin is the only reason she hasn't," Qrow argued. He sighed, rubbing a frustrated hand down his face. "This... this is what she wants. She wants us to doubt each other, to turn on each other. And once we're divided, she'll tear us apart."

"Which is why we won't let ourselves be divided," Ruby declared. She stepped in between her uncle and her guildmate, her silver eyes pleading with both of them to calm down.

It took a few moments, but the pair nodded.

Ruby sighed. "We've all been through a lot today. But it wasn't all bad, right?"

Jaune raised an eyebrow. "Um, Ruby, we nearly died, and we found out that two of your friends are working for Salem. What's good about that?"

Qrow couldn't help but agree with the kid. Sure, they'd killed the Nuckelavee, but dangerous or not, it was only one Grimm. Salem could replace it whenever she felt like it. In contrast, her forces now knew where they were and her most powerful Servant was on the hunt, with only his whim keeping him from sweeping in and obliterating them now. And at most, that whim would only last until Haven. No matter what defenses Lionheart had prepared, they would be outgunned if the Ophiuchus led the attack.

Ruby's optimism was usually a breath of fresh air, but right then and there, Qrow couldn't help but be reminded of Summer. She'd always had faith that everything would turn out fine as well. Right up until the day Raven, uncharacteristically shivering, had appeared before him and reported that her semblance bond to her had been broken. That their leader was dead.

He feared her daughter's idealism would lead her to the same fate.

She turned to Jaune and Wendy with a grin on her face. "Because now we know they're alive! And we know that Gray is with Weiss in Atlas! They'll find a way to meet up with us, and then we can track down the rest of the Spheres before Salem even gets the chance—"

"And then we'll all be lost together."

Ruby's eyes widened. "Wendy?"

The Sky Dragon Slayer sighed. She looked up at Jaune. "Are you okay to walk?"

"Me?" Jaune asked. Wendy nodded, and the blond boy rose to his feet. "Yeah, I think I'm good. What about you? Do you need any more healing?"

"I'm alright," she said, standing as well. "I just… I think I need to be alone, right now."

"Wendy," Carla murmured.

The blue-haired girl flashed her partner a small smile, but Qrow could tell it was strained and wasn't surprised when she wandered off into the forest.

Ruby made to follow her friend, but Qrow caught her arm and shook his head. Sometimes, the best way to help someone was to let them work through their own business, no matter how much you wanted to take their problems away.

"Well," Jaune said. "I should probably go and find Ren and Nora. Make sure they're okay after everything. You want to come Ruby?"

"Yeah," she said, staring miserably at the ground. "Let's go."

The two strode off in the opposite direction of Wendy, where the other two members of Team JNPR had run off to earlier. Well, more like Nora dragged Ren off to. Poor bastard. Qrow was going to make sure he was okay, but he suspected his partner had more of a right to reprimand him than he did.

Besides, he figured there was someone else who needed his help more.

He trudged over to Carla and took a seat beside the white Exceed. "So, Happy? I've been fighting the bastard for years and I never knew his name. How'd he end up with something like that?"

"I don't know," the glum cat said. "I never asked. I never thought I needed to ask. To me, he was always just… Happy. A foolish, childish, gluttonous… brave and devoted tomcat."

"It seems you're of two minds about him."

"Happy could be the most juvenile prankster you'd ever met, but, when it counted, there was no one more loyal to his friends," Carla declared. "There was a time, back when Wendy and I had only just joined the guild. Most everyone had been captured in another world called Edolas. And I was so sure of myself, that I knew how to keep Wendy safe and save everyone."

Qrow could see where this was going. "You were wrong, I take it?"

Carla nodded. "Horribly wrong. I led everyone into a trap and nearly led Wendy, Natsu, and Lucy to their deaths. And then the rest of our kind told Happy and I that we had been working towards our friends' deaths the entire time we'd known them. After everything that'd happened, I was distraught enough to believe them, but Happy… he knew who he was, who we both were, even at our lowest point. Fairy Tail wizards."

Qrow wanted to crack a smile. It was a good story, one that clearly meant the world to Carla. But he couldn't help but remember the dozens of times he'd crossed swords with the very same guy she was praising, how many times he'd pushed himself to the limit to protect his targets from the wrath of his Buster Sword. He couldn't reconcile the two different versions of the same Exceed in his mind.

And the saddest part was, he knew what Happy was in Carla's mind, the strength that the memory of his best inspired in her. Because he remembered a time when a pair of bloodthirsty bandits had snuck into the greatest huntsman academy in the world, so certain that they knew how everything worked, that the strong lived and the weak died. Only for a silver-eyed brat in a white cloak to turn everything upside down.

Summer's memory inspired him every day, willed him to do whatever good he could, help Oz push back the darkness. Carla had that same memory of Happy, only now she had to deal with a present-day version that was a twisted mockery of those same virtues, her heart struggling to keep the enemy of today separate from the friend of yesterday. It was one hell of a kick in the can, one he didn't know if he could handle if he had to do it.

So instead of smiling, he offered the best help he could and held out his flask.

Carla curled up her nose at it. "Thank you, but no thank you. I don't partake."

"Why not? Too dainty to partake?"

"More that the few times I have were not the most pleasant of experiences. Besides, it tastes awful."

Qrow chuckled. "You don't drink it for the taste."

He downed a quick swig, but when he pulled the flask away, he found the Exceed staring at him.

"What?"

"Will you kill him?" she inquired. "If you get the chance, will you kill Happy? Or Natsu, if he turns out to be this Ophiuchus?"

"I wouldn't count on me getting that chance."

"But if you _do_?"

Qrow sighed, twisting the cap of his drink back on. "Yes. I know you Fairy Tail bunch aren't exactly fans of lethal force in general or this case especially, but if it comes down to it, I will choose their deaths over ours, or the deaths of innocents. I'm a huntsman. I can't shirk that duty."

Carla didn't reply, merely staring off aimlessly into the grass. Her eyes were not broken, but they were exhausted.

Far up above, the shattered moon shimmered as its pale light twinkled down from the night sky.

"This world, it's our world," she murmured at last. "What happened to it while we were gone? What could have broken it so horribly?"

Qrow found he could provide no answer. After all, this broken remnant was the only world he'd ever known.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

"So, how are you doing?" Jaune asked once they were in the thick of the trees. "I mean, really?"

Ruby cocked an eyebrow. "What do you mean? I'm fine. Things are bad, but like I said, we've got some things in our corner." She gave him a playful nudge with her elbow. "Among them, someone's brand new semblance. Bet you can't wait to tell Pyrrha about that!"

"I know! All that time working on it at Beacon and now she's going to be so proud—wait a second," Jaune's cheer disappeared as he narrowed his eyes at her. "I see what you're doing!"

"What? I'm not doing anything!"

"You're getting me off-track of helping you by making me feel better about myself!"

"I'm not trying to get you off-track from anything," Ruby protested. "I just think it's great that you've unlocked your semblance."

Jaune sighed. "Ruby, it's me. You don't have to worry about keeping me positive. Cynicism and sarcasm are my thing."

Ruby glanced away. "I'm a leader. I'm not allowed to fail. I have to do what I can to keep everyone's spirits up. Plus, you know, it _is_ awesome that you unlocked your semblance."

"Thanks, but I'm a team leader too, remember? You can't fail me," he said, giving her a nudge. "But that means I'm in a unique position to be your sounding board. So come on, Crater Face, what's wrong?"

"What isn't?" Ruby pointed out. When Jaune didn't respond, obviously waiting for her to elaborate, she groaned. "You already said it. We nearly died, and Happy was the one trying to kill us. I want to try to keep everyone positive, there is _some_ bright side to this, but there's a lot more that isn't. I've never seen Wendy like this before, and Carla is questioning Uncle Qrow and we don't even know if the others are still alive or if they were released from their spheres centuries ago or how many there are and... Everything feels like it's falling apart, and we haven't even gotten to Haven yet."

"Yeah, it is."

Ruby glared at him. "Isn't this the part where you're supposed to try to make me feel better?"

"How? You'll know if I lie to you," Jaune replied, a far too cocky grin on his face. "I said I'd be a sounding board. Can't tell you that things are pretty terrible when they're stacked against us."

"Fair enough," Ruby sighed. "Still not doing a great job."

Jaune shrugged. "I can't lie to you. But I can ask questions."

"What kind of questions?"

"Well, weren't the odds stacked against us every other time we've been in trouble?" he asked. "At the Breach? At the Vytal Festival?"

"We were only fighting Roman and the White Fang at the Breach," Ruby reminded him. "And if Wendy hadn't shown up at the Fall, we would have been crushed. By _Cinder_. And she's just one of Salem's minions, not even a Gate. Now, Salem's sending out the big guns. What chance do we stand against them, especially if one of them is Natsu?"

"Depends. What were the chances of you guys going to and coming back from another dimension?"

"Salem sent us there. And it wasn't another dimension, it was time travel."

Jaune chuckled. "Debatably, that's even more impressive. And I don't remember you saying anything about Salem sending you guys back here."

"Well… she was obviously counting on it."

"But _you_ did it. Whether it was by skill, or strength, or teamwork, or even luck, _you_ did it," Jaune repeated. "All those incredible stories you and Wendy have told us about Fairy Tail: Grimoire Heart, Tartaros, the Alvarez War, the Hundred-Year Quest, do you think the odds were in their favor then?"

"Um… probably not," Ruby confessed.

"Then that's it!" Jaune clapped. "The odds are against us, but when are they not? The odds haven't been on humanity's side since the first Grimm crawled out of hell or wherever they come from. But we're huntsmen. Beating the odds is our specialty. And I'm willing to bet that its one of Fairy Tail's as well. Maybe it's just the semblance high, but I think we'll be able to do it."

"Why?" Ruby demanded, suddenly halting in place. She stared at Jaune's back as her first friend paused ahead of her. "Why do you think we'll be able to do it?"

For a moment, he just stood there, his tall, white and yellow form contrasting against the surrounding green and brown environment, a pillar of light among the dull verdant. Finally, he turned around and spoke.

"Because you're here," Jaune declared. He strode up to her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "There was this weird guy that Ren and I met in Kuroyuri. He asked me what my purpose was, if a huntsman was meant to destroy their enemies. I disagreed, told him that a huntsman's purpose was to protect people. And part of that, is because of you. Because you're here, talking about all the doubts you have, about all that we're up against. And yet, you're still trying to be a leader, to inspire people, just like you always have. Because, whether you know it or not, you haven't given up hope yet either. And that gives the rest of us the courage to keep going as well. You haven't failed anyone, not Team RWBY and not Fairy Tail. In fact, Salem or no Salem, something tells me you're going to be the thing that brings us all back together."

Ruby couldn't do anything else but stand there. Then, she pulled Jaune into a hug, a gesture her fellow team leader eagerly reciprocated.

"Thanks, Vomit Boy," she said. "You've gotten pretty good at speeches."

"I learned from the best," he replied.

"Pyrrha is a great public speaker."

For some reason, that sparked him into a round of giggles. "You're not wrong. And yet, you are."

What the heck did that mean?

She sighed and just enjoyed the feeling of her friend's closeness. "I promised Wendy that we'd get her home, that she'd see Fairy Tail again."

"I don't see how needing to travel in time is different from having to cross dimensions. As long as you don't cause a time paradox that erases yourself from existence."

Ruby nodded, a small smile crossing her face. " _John Binding; The Future is Grimm_ was weird."

"Definitely not Spruce Willis' best," Jaune agreed. "But you already know how to get back to Fairy Tail's time. The same way your team got there in the first place."

"The book," Ruby noted, a wry chuckle crossing her lips. "We'll have to go after Salem eventually. Might as well take back what she gave us."

Jaune grinned. "Another odd against us."

"Indeed."

The two friends pulled apart, Ruby's smile feeling far more at peace on her face. "Let's find Ren and Nora."

Jaune nodded as they resumed their walk, noticing a splash of pink clothes and orange hair in a nearby clearing. "Looks like we don't have far to go."

The two of them came upon Ren and Nora, but the partners didn't seem to notice them, focused entirely on each other. And given the former was usually the most attentive of them all, that was quite unusual.

"I'm sorry, alright," Ren insisted. "I'm not sure what else I can say."

"You can talk to me," Nora begged. "Ren, please. I know why you were that way back there, I know better than anyone—"

"And I'm sorry for it. I shouldn't have lost control like that, I put everyone in danger," Ren cut in. "But you don't have to worry about it happening again. That monster is dead, I killed it with my own two hands—"

"We both know that's not how these things work! You can't just kill something and not feel all the pain it caused you anymore!"

"Well then what am I supposed to do?!"

"Talk to me!"

Ruby looked to Jaune, who was only able to give her an uncomfortable cringe. Should they have been here for this? This seemed really personal, and not in the way that team leader speeches could help.

Ren and Nora panted hard, both of them short of breath from shouting. The green-robed huntsman looked away from his partner, an expression of shame on his face. A familiar shade of gray began to form over his body.

Nora promptly slapped him. The monochrome glaze shattered.

"No!" she scolded, gripping the lapel of his jacket. Tears began to well in her eyes. "No! No more hiding! No more shoving everything down until it explodes!"

"It's not your problem," Ren protested. "I'm not going to burden you with my issues."

"So, you'll just turn yourself into a time bomb? How is that any better?" Nora grabbed his hands and wrenched them in front of his face. An ethereal white glow was humming from his palms. "You're keeping everything bottled up, just like you always do, but it's _still there_. I know what that's like, even with good feelings—"

"How?" Ren cut in. He took several deep breaths and slowly but surely the light of his magic faded. "How is it going to make anything better? We just fought the weakest of Salem's circle and we nearly died. The time before that, Beacon was destroyed and our team was splintered. How is… thinking about it, going to make anything better?!"

"I… don't know," Nora admitted. "But talking about it stands a better chance of helping than not."

Ren glanced away. "You know I've never been good at talking."

Nora looked down and scowled. "Practice what you preach," she muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing… no, not nothing."

She grabbed onto Ren's shirt once again and dragged his head over to face her. But instead of stopping there as she had before, she tugged him down into a kiss. For the first second, Ren's eyes were wide with shock, but it barely took any time at all before his arms were wrapped around his partner and pulling them ever closer.

Ruby's eyes widened, a quick glance at Jaune informing her that he was in similar straits. As one, they slowly began backing up, knowing that this was not something they should intrude on.

But still, as happy as she was for her friends, both Nora and Ren brought up good points. They were outgunned, they were outmatched. But letting that pressure build up and destroy them from within wouldn't help. Their greatest strength was each other, and not letting each other bear part of the burden would just isolate them from that. None of them could stop Salem alone.

But together, even together-together, no odds in the world could stop them.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

Wendy had known darkness before. She'd known sadness and despair and hopelessness. She'd even known what it was like to get flung centuries into the future with nothing but the clothes on her back.

In hindsight, her life had consisted of far more traumatic events than she liked to think about.

But whatever she had been through before, she had never lost so much as she had now.

When she'd woken up one day and Grandeeney hadn't been there, she'd been lost, adrift without a raft or island until she'd met Mystogan. But she'd been a child. Her mother had disappeared, but she had only been able to comprehend it from a four-year-old's perspective. It was raw, and emotional, but with time, and Carla, and Cait Shelter, she'd healed from the wound by the time of Nirvana. It wasn't something she was happy about, she'd searched for her mom as fervently as Natsu had for Igneel, but she could still move forward with her life, find new people to care about. And when other threats came to take those people from her, she was able to fight back with all her strength! They all did!

But now… there was no enemy to defeat to get them back. There _was_ an enemy, Salem had to be stopped. But saving the world from her wouldn't get her back to the guildhall. It wouldn't get any of them back to the guildhall. Time was their foe in that regard, and it had bested them without even trying.

Master, Mira, Gajeel, Juvia, Levy, Elfman, Lisanna, Laxus, everyone at the guildhall. They were gone. Not because of some demon or dark guild, but simply because their time had passed. They'd lived their lives, and she'd missed all of it. She'd never see Asuka take her first job, or know what Gajeel and Levy named their child, or know if Chelia's magic came back completely, or a thousand other things that were crashing down around her.

That was the cruelty of an adult's perspective over a child's. When Grandeeney had disappeared, one day, out of the blue, she had only a vague understanding of what had been taken from her, awful as that sensation was. Now that she understood, had developed her bonds of friendship that required a more mature understanding and recognized exactly what had taken it from her, she was confronted with the cold hard truth of reality. In some ways, it was a greater torture than her childhood experience ever was, because this time she knew exactly what she had lost.

Earthland was gone. Remnant, with all its horrors and hopelessness, was all that was left.

It shouldn't have hurt as much as it did. She'd suspected since Patch after all, since Ruby had been unable to supply a feasible reason for why the Fairy Sphere would take them across dimensions. But she'd held out hope, a small, flickering spark, that she was wrong, that her worst fears, waiting in the dark, were just shadows, no more capable of hurting her than the light they hid behind. She'd prayed to find something to fan the flames. But Happy's confirmation had blown it away. And his very presence had extinguished her other fervent wish.

She'd meant what she'd said on Patch. If Remnant truly was the future of Earthland, then she'd hoped she and Carla had been the only ones trapped there, that the rest of her friends could still continue on their eternal adventure with the guild. Alas, her hope had gone unanswered. Natsu and Happy were trapped by Salem, and even if Gray was safe with Weiss, he'd never see Juvia again, never find out if their burgeoning romance would go anywhere. And who knew what had happened to Erza and Lucy. For all she knew, if they had been put in spheres as well, they might have been released centuries ago, their lives lived and their corpses buried, the bonds they'd held entombed with them.

She sank to her knees, the cool grass of the forest providing no comfort under the light of the shattered moon. A moon she _knew_ should have been whole. A single group, together and happy, not broken and scattered.

It was all her fault. If she'd reacted faster against the White Witch, been more aware and dodged her attack, she and Carla wouldn't have gotten injured. She could have healed Natsu and Happy where Sitara couldn't. There would have been no need for any Fairy Spheres! They could have fought off their brainwashed guildmates, they could have won!

But then guilt struck her from the other angle. Because if she and Carla hadn't been stuck in the Fairy Sphere, then they wouldn't have been above Beacon Tower when Ruby's Fairy Glitter had gone wide. And if they hadn't been there, Cinder would have killed Ruby and Pyrrha.

No matter what she had done, her friends would have suffered. No matter what choice she had made, people she cared about would have been lost. Perhaps that should have been a comfort. After all, she'd done all she could.

Instead, all she could focus on was the fact that she'd made a choice, that she hadn't moved fast enough, and because of that, none of the Strongest Team would ever see the guildhall again. And then she was drowned in guilt for wishing she'd been faster, because if she had, then Ruby would have never left Beacon alive.

The conflicting guilts surged inside her, twin raging hurricanes, each laying waste to the land around them as they warred. Tears flooded down from her eyes and a broken, guttural scream pierced the night. It was only several minutes later that she realized it had been her own.

And long after that, when she finally noticed a familiar, eerily foreign pinprick in the back of her mind.

"I… I didn't know if you were still in there," she said, choking through her tears. "You haven't said anything since we got here."

For a moment, there was nothing, just the far-off chirping of some chattering crickets. Then, _she_ appeared, materializing in the air like some ghost summoned by moonlight. Tall, voluptuous, beautiful, with cascades of scarlet hair tumbling across her chest in elaborate braids, some would feel themselves blessed to behold such a vision. Wendy wasn't sure if she could go that far, but in her state, anything of Earthland was a welcome sight. Even one of the greatest foes Fairy Tail had ever faced, the only person she could ever recall defeating Erza in physical combat.

Fitting that it was her mother who had accomplished the task.

" _I told you that I would only come out in moments of need,"_ Irene Belserion, the Mother of Dragon Slayers, reminded her. _"Though, I suppose with how things are going, you're in one great big continuous moment of need. My sympathies, I am more than familiar with such a situation."_

Wendy sniffled, pushing down her sobs and wiping the liquid from her eyes. Here she was wailing about her troubles and yet before her was a woman who'd lost far more than she ever had, endured a living hell for four hundred years.

"I'm sorry."

" _Don't be. I wouldn't wish something approaching my former fate upon anyone. Certainly not you,"_ the mightiest woman of Alvarez assured her. _"However, do not lose yourself in your despair, little shrimp. The question remains: what will you do next?"_

"Next?" Wendy muttered. "What can I do next? Natsu and Happy are gone, Gray is in Atlas, I have no idea if Erza and Lucy are even still alive… and even if they are, we'll never see Magnolia again. Unless… you worked with Zeref. Did he tell you anything about time travel?"

" _A great deal. I worked quite closely with him on his ambitions to make use of Fairy Heart and the time rift,"_ Irene said. The spectral enchanter cocked an eyebrow. _"Though, as I recall, you lot took quite a bit of issue with his majesty's plans. Will you abandon your previous ideals now that they are inconvenient?"_

Despite how much it pained her, Wendy shook her head. She knew enough about time travel from Future Rogue's invasion to know that changing the past erased the future one came from. As soon as the Eclipse Gate was destroyed, it became impossible for him to have used it to return to the past, and so he and his dragons were erased. Zeref had only confirmed it when he'd told Natsu that his returning to the moment he became immortal would erase the world he came from. Which meant if Wendy returned herself or her friends to the past, Remnant would never have come to be.

And whatever its faults, this world had given her Ruby. It had given her Weiss, Blake, and Yang, and all the new friends she'd made since she'd arrived here. She would not sacrifice them for her own desires.

But if there was a loophole…

" _There isn't_ ," Irene succinctly informed her. Apparently, she'd said that last part out loud. _"Time can be rewritten, but something must be erased to make room."_

Wendy sagged back, once again unsurprised by the inalienable truth before her. "Then what can I do?"

Irene's ghostly form shrugged. _"What is it you Fairy Tail types are always going on about? Keep moving forward?"_

"On our eternal adventure," Wendy murmured. Such a simple task never seemed so daunting before.

" _Yes, that. Though, I suspect it shall be significantly more difficult than previously,"_ Irene noted. A proud smirk blossomed across her face. _"In which case, I'd like to offer my more… active services."_

Wendy raised an eyebrow. "I thought you used the last of your magic power against that Sticky Dragon Slayer?"

During the course of the Hundred-Year Quest, the Strongest Team had faced off with the dark guild Diabolos, a group completely comprised of Fifth Generation Dragon Slayers, those who achieved their power by eating the flesh of dragons or cannibalizing other dragon slayers. Wendy had been pushed to her limit against one of their number, the Sticky Dragon Slayer Nebal. In desperation, she'd attempted to access the small fragment of magic power Irene had left behind when they'd switched bodies, inadvertently awakening the Queen of Dragons' soul that she'd enchanted into Wendy upon her 'death'. The fallen wizard had then taken over the Sky Dragon Slayer's body to finish the fight, even using nonlethal means upon her host's request.

In exchange, Wendy had honored her request to keep quiet about her presence to her friends. Especially Erza.

Irene nodded. _"I did. But while I won't be able to provide you with any firepower, I will be able to assist in other matters."_

"What do you mean?"

" _Look at how much stronger Erza became once you taught her enchantment,"_ the ghostly woman said. _"You are a prodigy, my little shrimp. Perhaps not in power like my daughter or his majesty's brother, but not just anyone could use a body swap enchantment just from having it used upon them. You've learned to imbue objects and others with slaying attributes, even if only temporarily. That is a feat few of our kind ever accomplish."_

Wendy scratched the side of her face, a bit embarrassed by such praise. "It's not all that impressive. I just… figured it out as I went along or studied whenever texts I could find."

" _Precisely,"_ Irene declared. _"If you've come this with just what you've been able to pick up on your own, imagine what you'll be capable of under the tutelage of a proper teacher."_ She glanced down at her ghostly visage and chuckled. _"Well, close enough."_

"A proper teacher?"

It was true. Ms. Porlyusica had helped her with her healing magic and given her Grandeeney's notes, but as far as enchantments went, arguably the most versatile aspect of her arsenal, she'd had to figure it out on her own. She'd never really taken issue with that fact, a lot of the guild was self-taught. But those who had benefited from the training of a master, Natsu and Gajeel with their fathers, Gray with Ur, even Erza with her, they were among the most powerful Fairy Tail could field.

She didn't know how strong Salem was, but if Happy's hints were anything to go by, then it would take everything they had to surpass her, especially if these Gates were as strong as Qrow was building them up to be. She was handicapped on Remnant, unable to maintain her Dragonforce unless a maiden was nearby. She should have been able to stop that Jupiter Cannon. But as she was, she failed, and everyone was put at risk.

She could not fail again. Not when her friends' lives hung in the balance.

"How do we start?"

* * *

 **So, full disclosure, Irene Belserion is one of my favorite characters in Fairy Tail, both as an antagonist and as a person. Her backstory is heartbreaking, her psychology is complex, her interactions with others (especially Erza and Wendy) are interesting, she exudes menace matched by only August among the Twelve, and her fight is one of the highlights of the final arc for me. However, I have always believed that the needs of a story should govern what characters show up and in what roles in it, not any personal feelings of my own. Thus, this was my only Fairy Tail involved story that didn't have Irene involved, as there was no logical reason from canon she would have been and no great role that required her to be worked in.**

 **Then Hundred-Year Quest practically gift-wrapped me both of those, and unintentionally set her up to align with certain themes I plan to explore later on. Funny how these things work out. Wendy and Oscar can bond over having centuries-old uber-powerful wizards in their heads.**

 **An extra huge thank you to my patrons: ArcherMcMuffin, Gregg Tracton, Keith Traction, Annaya Chan, Nora Okonus, Paula mandel, KefkaesqueXIII, Christian Howard, SanyaBane, Matthew Blevins, and David Wayman.**

 **Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!**

 **Go Forth and Conquer!**


	32. Chapter 31

**If you wish to support me and my college tuition, please check out my P a treon for future chapter summaries, story ideas and more: p a Treon.(c om) (backslash) themaster4444**

 **Beta-ed by xenosaiyan**

* * *

"…And, you know the rest," Blake finished. "I don't know who Tyrian is, but if he could handle… that form, so easily, then he is far too dangerous for anyone on this island."

"Yes," her father murmured. His face, normally so rugged and wise, was pale with shock. "Yes, I do believe he is."

Blake cringed. The doctor's skill and Tyrian's guidance had ensured that she was never in danger of dying from the latter's poison, but it had still left her delirious for days. Apparently, the scorpion faunus had been quite distressed by that, muttering on and on about how he had "delayed her reunion with their goddess". One thing had led to another and once she was well enough, her parents had asked who Salem was and how she had met her.

Thus, she'd gathered all the allies she had on the island and divulged everything, Fairy Tail, maidens, the Relics, and Grimm Queen included. Qrow might get mad at her later for the Salem bits, but these were her parents. She wasn't going to have them within spitting distance of one of the Gates, and Tyrian was putting out way too much curse energy not to be somehow demonic, without knowing the score.

Oh, and Ilia too, but after Sienna Khan had given Tyrian a free hand on the island and the Albains had put her in his line of sight, her loyalty to any White Fang leadership figure that wasn't Adam was quite thoroughly shot. And wasn't it a strange day when she when _that_ was the thing that realigned her with her old friend.

"The Mother of Grimm," Ilia murmured, her hands trembling. "And that psychopath is just one of her minions?"

"Well, one of her top minions, but yeah," Sun confirmed. "Qrow said these Gates are capable of wiping out armies. You'd think she'd want to give that kind of power to someone who's mentally stable." The blond monkey faunus turned to Blake. "But why does he seem to think you know her?"

Blake shrugged. "No idea. I'd never heard of Salem until Patch. But… when I was in Grimm Form… there was a voice."

"A voice?" Her mother said, furrowing her brow. "Mr. Callows did mention that his Queen would be trying to get through to you."

"Did you recognize it?" her father inquired.

She shook her head. "No, everything is so warped when I'm like that. The voice gave me… advice on how to better control myself. It's how I was able to drop the form."

"Really?" Sun said, jumping to his feet. "That's great! If you can control it—"

"Then what?" Ghira challenged. "She can put her faith in a voice she can't recognize that's probably the Queen of the Grimm?"

"Well… no," Sun awkwardly backpedaled. "But, she's healthy enough to move now. Which means Tyrian isn't going to take 'no' for an answer. Her Grimm form is the only thing that even has a chance of fighting him, and only if she's in control of it."

Blake frowned, but her friend was right. The advice the voice had given her, to give herself to the darkness instead of fighting with it, aim the power instead of grappling with it… she'd be lying if she said she was at all comfortable with the idea. She'd made so many mistakes trying to use morally ambiguous means to accomplish good ends.

When she'd seen her parents again, when she'd forced herself back to normal, seen her mother's broken arm and _remembered_ that she'd tried to do much worse to her in her Grimm form… well, combined with all the reasons they already had to hate her, she had been planning to run. Like the coward she was.

But she hadn't run. She'd been tired of running and it hadn't done anyone any good, not her or the people she cared about. She'd gotten down on her knees and professed her apologies to her parents, fully expecting to be disowned for her trespasses. It'd be what she deserved.

Instead, they had done the one thing she'd never imagined they'd do. They forgave her. Just like with Weiss and Yang, she'd gone to those she'd harmed, taken responsibility for her sins, and they'd forgiven her. She wasn't naïve enough to think that was how things would be with everyone she'd hurt, but in the end, she couldn't be forgiven if she did not appear for judgment. She had to let them meet her halfway instead of wallowing in her own guilt and taking the burden of redemption wholly on her own shoulders. Like Mira had always said about Take-Over, it was all about equilibrium.

Which led into the actual logistics of her current problem. Salem's words, to give in to the Grimm's killing intent and aim it, weren't entirely distinct from the elder Strauss sibling's teachings. She couldn't try to manhandle the Umbral Spirit's essence. She had to meet it halfway, find an equilibrium with it that she could use to protect her friends…

Umbral Spirit? Why had she called the Grimm an Umbral Spirit? What even was that… a Servant of Seram. Just as the Celestial were the Servants of Ankh.

…

And how the hell did she know _that_?

Had the voice, Salem's voice, told her? Or was it like when she'd nearly absorbed Loke? Was she gaining _memories_ from the Grimm? Were they hidden somewhere, beneath the sea of darkness that kept trying to drown her?

Was there an actual mind buried under Seram's mad commands?

"Even if she gains control of it, Tyrian was still barely trying in that fight. He had to put more effort into not killing her than winning," Ilia pointed out. "According to the Albains, he was killing professional huntsmen when he was only a faunus. Now he's some demon that can wipe out armies. What chance does she have alone?"

"She won't be alone," Kali proclaimed.

Sun frowned. "Mrs. B, it's a good thought, and I'd gladly jump in the ring if it would help, but it won't. He's too powerful."

"Too powerful to fight," Ilia concurred. "But not too powerful to run from."

"No. I'm not running," Blake declared.

"What other option is there?" Ilia demanded. "The rest of us can't scratch him, and you can't beat him alone."

"If I run, he will burn Kuo Kuana to the ground."

"He wouldn't dare," Ghira gasped. "He is here by Sienna's grace. And she would never tolerate such a blatant atrocity on the island."

Blake sent her father a look of pity. "Sienna isn't calling the shots here. Salem is."

"I know. I have no illusions about that," her father replied. "But if Salem truly wishes to facilitate an alliance with the White Fang, she can't do something that will turn Sienna against her or turn the faunus against the Fang. A terrorist attack on Menagerie would do both."

"That is a fair and logical point," Blake conceded. "Do you think Tyrian is a logical individual?"

Ghira stared at her for a few moments. Finally, he let out a long, tired sigh, his hands rising up to rub his temples. It had been a few years, but Blake was only now realizing just how much older her father looked compared to when she'd last seen him. The split from the White Fang, governing Menagerie, and her own absence… how much stress had he taken on himself?

"Your mother is right, though. You will not be facing Callows alone," he proclaimed. "I'll talk to Saber, see if the guard has any artillery they've kept in shape since the revolution. Most of it is on the walls, but there should be some we can bring to bear against this miscreant."

"Decades-old cannons against a Gate?" Sun skeptically asked.

Ghira smirked. "You youngsters may have your fancy weapons, and admittedly, they are quite versatile. But, when you've been in the midst of a real battle, you'll find that there are few things more useful than a very large gun."

Sun blinked numbly and then raised an eyebrow. "Wasn't the White Fang peaceful when you were in charge?"

"It was. And because of that, I learned a great deal about being shot at."

Blake couldn't help but chuckle at that. "I think I've got something else that might help. Or at least get some backup that might help."

"Backup?" Ilia said. "I thought you said your team was at Haven and Atlas?

Kali raised an eyebrow. "Is there a magic that will allow them to teleport here to help?"

"What? No! Well, maybe, but none that we have."

"The Fairy Sphere!" Sun suddenly realized, jumping to his feet in excitement. "You're planning to unlock the Fairy Sphere in the desert!"

"Huh?"

"What?"

"There's a sphere in the desert?"

Blake sighed at the others' responses. Still, she nodded. "If I can control the Sea Feilong Full-Body Form, I'll have enough power to break through the sphere. And then Tyrian will have two Fairy Tail wizards to contend with."

Sun chuckled, smashing his fist into his palm. "If they're anything like Wendy, you two will be able to turn that bug into paste."

Blake grinned. "If who I'm hoping is the person in there, they'll be even stronger."

"Excellent," Ghira said, though his worried frown belied his continued concern. "But Tyrian will be here tonight to take you away. How will we have time to both prepare the trap and get out to the desert to free your friend?"

"Easy," Blake said. "He's going to take me out there."

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

"Gretel Rainart."

Gray's eyes narrowed at the holographic young woman projected from the table. He, Winter, Esper, and Eleanor had gathered in the Council Chairwoman's office. In the days since the attempted coup, Atlas had only gotten colder. Pietro Polendina was found dead in his lab, his defenses wrecked and his computers wiped, after what most assumed to be their information being stolen. The conclusion that Esper had drawn from the investigation was that Pietro had learned what had been going on and was the reason the Black Queen Virus shut down so quickly, proclaiming the good doctor a martyr and a national hero. Since he was respected in Atlas for his genius and beloved in Mantle for his charity work, both cities joined mourning him. And baying for the blood of his killer, who most assumed to be COMMAND ESR.

Of course, the fact that the Winter Maiden was found dead in her room, with all the cameras and Knights conveniently shorting out when it had happened, suggested that someone else had made that particular kill.

Gray had already suspected that there was more than one Gate involved. Weiss had been affected by the Macro Curse, and while it could animate the dead, it couldn't do so with the precision that Ironwood had displayed in the council chambers. The curse that could, however, was one that the Ice-Make Mage knew all too well.

The Necromancy Curse was in play. Not in Keyes' hands, but in a monster just like him, who'd used it to revive a man he'd murdered to manipulate the loyalty of those who'd loved him. Gray had once made a vow to destroy the Etherious, a vow he had forsaken when it had nearly turned him against Natsu. But for this bastard, he'd temporarily reinstate it. Gladly.

But they didn't have any clues to who that Gate was. COMMAND ESR on the other hand…

"Gretel _Rainart_ ," Winter annunciated slowly. "Are you sure?"

Eleanor nodded. "During Godmother's Haven, when I was… struggling to do what needed to be done regarding Ben, she appeared before me. When orders were insufficient to get my sentimental ass in gear and I pulled a gun on her, she removed her mask to apply a 'human element' so to say. It worked." The spy sighed and glanced away. "I should have shot her."

"Yes, you should have," Esper said, glaring at the flickering image of her rival, finally having a face for all her rage. "Would have saved us all a lot of trouble. Ironwood's files confirm that she was under the mask." Her brow furrowed in thought. "Rainart… Rainart… where have I heard that name before?"

Gray and Winter shared a worried glance. Since assuming emergency powers, Esper had gained access to all military files no matter their previously required security clearance. It had resulted in some positives, like her choosing to officially inform Gray about Godmother's Haven (probably figured Weiss had already told him, which she had), but also meant that she had access to Ironwood's files on Salem. He and Winter had debated whether they should tell her the truth about the Queen of the Grimm, but since she would find out from her reading eventually, they eventually decided that it was their best move. With Ironwood gone, they needed the highest authority in the kingdom to know the real score.

Suffice to say, when the Chairwoman had closed her office for the next day, they'd theorized that she had drunk herself into a stupor. Surprisingly, the day after, she'd appeared before them with many empty cookie tins and having speed-read through as many of the files as she could.

"Madam Chairwoman, I believe this is related to the special matter we discussed earlier," Winter said. She glanced towards Eleanor. "The classified one."

Eleanor scowled at Winter, but her vaunted professionalism was more than talk. When Esper's eyes widened and she looked to the Special Agent, the Tremaine matriarch fell into a salute and marched out of the room without a word of protest.

"Thank you," Winter nodded.

"Be careful, Winter," Esper warned, though not unkindly. She strode around to her desk and slumped into her seat, her optimistic air oppressed by exhaustion. "I'm doing what I can, but no Specialist is popular these days. If I didn't have emergency powers, I don't think I could keep Clover and Marrow out of prison."

Gray cringed. With the death of Councilman Sleet and Ironwood no longer alive to take the backlash, the Specialist Corps itself, and Winter as its commander, had been facing the brunt of the people's fury. Clover Ebi and Marrow Amin, the sole survivors of the Ace Ops, had had thousands clamoring for their incarceration, despite the fact that they had nothing to do with the coup attempt.

"I can only do so much before people's faith in me isn't enough to help," Esper warned. "Now then, how is COMMAND ESR's true identity, this…" she glared at the holographic girl again, "…Gretel Rainart, involved with Salem."

"I don't know the details, but from what the general told me, one of Salem's Gates is a man called Hazel Rainart," Winter said. "He was one of the general and Professor Ozpin's allies until his sister's death drove him to Salem."

Gray cocked an eyebrow. "Did Ozpin kill her?"

"No, she was a huntress. She fell to the Grimm."

"What?" the Ice Mage said. "Then why in the world would he join the Queen of the Grimm? That makes no sense."

"No, it does not," Esper remarked.

Winter shrugged. "I can't speak to the thought process of a terrorist."

"Fair enough."

Esper pulled out her scroll and ran a quick search through Ironwood's files. "According to the general, Ms. Gretel is this Hazel's cousin. James had known of her beforehand, the Rainart family has been dedicated huntsmen for the last three generations, but she only joined Atlas Intelligence a few years after her cousin's desertion. No mention of Ironwood or Ozpin ever bringing her into the loop."

"Maybe she was looking for the loop?" Gray suggested. "She's had Intelligence on the lookout for magic for decades. Maybe she tracked down Salem and got turned by her cousin."

"Perhaps, but for the moment her motives for treachery don't matter so much as her next move," Esper noted. "Her attempt to have me and the rest of the council assassinated and rule using James as a puppet failed, but she used the opportunity to take the Winter Maiden's powers and have some other agent of hers, possibly another Gate, steal Pietro's files and the Penny Project."

Winter frowned. "We don't know for sure if they have the Penny Project."

Esper peaked up, a sparkle of hope in her eyes. "Has the girl contacted us?"

"Um, no, ma'am."

"Oh," the chairwoman deflated. "Then we must assume the worst."

"Does that include anything about Weiss?" Gray demanded. "Why haven't we freed her from prison yet?"

To his great surprise, it was Winter who answered him. "Because even if we put the attack on the Manor at Rainart's feet, it was the Chairwoman who witnessed Weiss stab Whitley."

"If I release her, it will be like saying I lied before, even if I convince my security team to lie with me," Esper explained. "We've already got every soldier and huntsman we have on Mantle's walls fighting off Grimm attacks caused by the coup. If we create any more unrest, any more negativity, who knows if our defenses will hold."

"We cannot sacrifice thousands of lives just to release Weiss," Winter declared, though she most certainly did not look happy with the fact. "We can get her out as soon as we can prove that she was being controlled by a curse. Which means we need to tell the public about magic and Salem, but without the Winter Maiden we have no way to prove it!"

"And without the Amity Tower, our reach will be limited," Esper sighed. "James, why didn't you tell… me? No… you didn't tell anyone."

"Ma'am?" Winter said.

Esper ignored her, suddenly frantic with movement. She tapped into her scroll and swiftly replaced the holographic image of Gretel Rainart with one of maps of a certain area of Solitas. Gray didn't recognize it, but Winter raised an eyebrow.

"The Amity Storage Site?" she noted.

"That's where she's going," the chairwoman stated. "Her partner accessed Pietro's system once to insert the Black Queen Virus. The only reason they'd return is if they assumed that James was hiding something that they needed more time to extract. And if they already gained the Winter Maiden's location, the Amity Project is the only other hard target to hit."

Winter paled. "We're still clearing out the planned launch site, but if they destroyed the coliseum, a symbol of peace and unity—"

"—They'd set back any hope of reuniting Remnant by decades," Esper finished. She turned to Gray. "Maidens bleed ethernano, correct? If we get you within the general area, you'll be able to pinpoint her location?"

Gray frowned. "According to what Weiss told me about Cinder, I should. But if COMMAND is a Gate _and_ a maiden, I might need help to take her."

"You'll have it," Winter assured him, stepping forward and clasping a hand on his shoulder. "I'm coming with you."

"As will I," Esper grinned. "I've been waiting years to put this bitch down. We'll have to bring Eleanor too. If she's really on our side, she'll want her own pound of flesh. If she isn't, she'll have to reveal her true colors there."

Gray nodded. It wasn't a bad plan. He wasn't one for killing if there was another option, but he knew better than most that one couldn't take chances with demons. If they played this right, they could make sure the maiden powers went to Winter and then they'd have their proof to free Weiss. It was a risky plan, at least a dozen things could go horribly wrong, but that was par for the course with a Fairy Tail mission.

However, there was one risk he was unwilling to accept.

"If we do this, all three of us will be outside the city at the same time," he pointed out. "COMMAND didn't have me recruit Weiss for no reason, she's a target in this somehow. As long as she's in the prison, she's a sitting duck. If we all leave, there'll be no one to back her up if she needs it."

Winter frowned. "That's… a good point. Rainart has proven more than proficient at making us look one way and then moving in another."

"And yet, we can't risk Amity," Esper mused. A few moments later though, she smirked. "We'll just have to make sure Weiss isn't where Gretel thinks she will be."

"You just said we couldn't release her," Gray reminded her.

"We can't. But we don't need to," Esper explained. "If we're all seen going elsewhere, blame cannot fall on us if Weiss suddenly disappears from her cell."

"But it will fall on her," Winter pointed out, none too enthused. "Escaping from prison is a crime in and of itself."

"Once we have the proof to exonerate her, we can sell whatever story we need to remove that charge. We can even say she was transferred to another site," Esper said. She pursed her lips in concern. "Though, since the three of us would be gone to deflect suspicion, we couldn't run that operation. Clover and Marrow have too many eyes on them right now. And we can't assign it to Intelligence without risking Rainart hearing about it if any are still loyal to her."

A solution immediately popped into Gray's head. Someone who wasn't a member of Intelligence but had all the skills of one. A person who had been completely loyal to Winter and would be perfectly capable of breaking Weiss out. It was a lucky break.

And yet, he and Weiss had gotten a lot of lucky breaks in Atlas that had turned out to be anything but. Maybe he was getting paranoid, but he found he couldn't trust where he was being led, even if he trusted the person he'd arrived at. There had just been too many reversals, too many betrayals. Even if Eleanor and Drizzella had saved the council, even if Esper had nearly lost her life in the coup and been nothing but helpful towards them since… he didn't think he'd be trusting anyone but Weiss and Winter any time soon.

"Ana," Winter stated, a smile coming over her face. "Ana can do it. Hell, she might even be able to get Drizzella to run interference for her off-the-books."

"I wouldn't advise that," Esper said. "We should keep the circle as small as possible on this."

"Agreed," Gray chimed in. "Driz loves Ana, but she won't go against Eleanor. If she is against us, Driz won't oppose her."

Esper frowned. "Then we may need to take her with us as well, just to be certain." She looked to Winter. "Will you be able to fight your old teammate if it comes to it?"

Winter's face hardened into steel. "If she was a party to what was done to the general, Dr. Polendina, my _sister_ , and this kingdom, then she is no teammate of mine."

Gray wasn't sure he agreed with that. Call it naïve of him, but even if the Tremaine sister was against them, he'd heard firsthand how she'd become that way, and he doubted she had enjoyed recent events any more than they had. She still needed to get some sense knocked into her and face whatever justice was in store for her, but to abandon her outright?

Well… it wasn't his family that had been torn asunder. In the end, it was Winter's choice.

He just had to make sure that she, and Weiss, survived long enough to make it.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

"Please! Please, Brother Tyrian! It wasn't what you think! Have we not done all we could to be of help to you since we have arrived?"

The former scorpion faunus rolled his eyes. The inner chambers of the Menagerie White Fang enclave were, in common terms, trashed. Comfortable thrones overturned and ruin, expensive Mistralian drink smashed along the floor, and its two most common occupants currently squashed under Tyrian's feet.

"Please, Fennec, do not insult the intelligence of us all," he chided the fox faunus. "We are not brothers, and you have _never_ sought to help me. The two of you have always been so clever, so cunning. Alas, you have fallen into the same trap that many who are clever but not wise too: just because the rest of the world does not match your cunning does not mean they are _fools_."

"We know you are not a fool, Brother Tyrian!" Corsac spoke up. "That is why we—"

"Attempted to use my mission from the Queen to have me execute Lady Blake's parents and clear your path to the chieftainship?" Tyrian snorted. "Honestly, you weren't even subtle." His tail flickered down, gliding across the side of their faces. The Albain brothers' famed silver tongues went silent, their eyes focused on the stinger that could end them with less than a pound of pressure. "I would so _love_ to educate you in the consequences of such sloth."

His tail withdrew, the Albains near fainting from relief. He stepped off them and allowed the fox brothers to scramble to their knees.

"However, that would be to commit sloth of my own. The Queen's efforts must come before any of our own petty desires after all," he grinned. "And you two still have a part to play, no matter how insignificant."

"Wha—what?" Fennec muttered. "What do you mean—"

Tyrian grinned. "Your High Leader has discovered who exactly you were planning to support in the recent coup. Naughty, naughty foxes, thinking the bull would conquer the tiger."

"That's a lie!" Corsac shouted. "We have always been loyal to High Leader Khan—"

"Do shut up, Corsac. You're wasting air," Tyrian dismissed, instantly silencing the fox. "After all, she learned the truth from the horse's mouth."

"What do you—"

"But! Thanks to the Queen's guidance, she's decided to give you a second chance!" Tyrian cheered. "There's a ship in the harbor bound for Mistral. Make sure you and all your followers are on it."

"Mistal?"

"That's where Haven Academy is," Tyrian grinned. "And in case you're thinking of running."

An orange glow lit up around his hand, summoning up a similar shine upon each of the fox brothers from where he'd planted his foot. The Albains' eyes widened.

"Don't," he advised. "Run, and my curse will send you flying in pieces. We wouldn't want that, would we? Hehehehehehehe!"

Maybe it was the lifeline, maybe it was the threat, and maybe it was his laughter, but the Albain brothers wasted no time in dashing out of there, leaving Tyrian to bask in his victory.

After a conference call with their Atlas team, Sienna Khan had been more than eager to have the names of all those who were disloyal to her. Donating them to the Queen's strike force against Haven had been a simple task for Hazel's negotiation skills. The tiger faunus might have raised some fuss if the attack was meant to actually destroy the school as Beacon had been, she did believe the huntsmen academies protected all, but with the objectives the attack was to have, there was no trouble. After all, dear Headmaster Lionheart had already sent all his precious students home early.

The attack would be led by the Lord Ophiuchus and fitted to the Queen and Gate of the Maiden's wider strategy. As soon as the Spring Maiden was found, the Relic of Knowledge would be theirs and then the locations of all the Fairy Spheres would be theirs, setting the stage for their goddess' grand revolution.

And speaking of the Spheres, Lady Blake had just informed him of a most fascinating discovery. It seemed he would be returning to the Grimmlands with two prizes instead of one.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

The processing had been a nightmare. Yang had made her watch some old crime movies once and they'd always skimmed through the procedure, made it seem like the fingerprinting and the mugshots and the searches went by in the blink of an eye at best. But it was an eternity. An eternity of a creeping pit growing in her stomach, of knowing that the entire kingdom would see her as a monster, a murderer who'd tried to kill her own brother… and she had no way of proving she wasn't.

Gray would believe her. Winter as well maybe. But everyone else? Who in their right mind would believe that a mystical force had taken control of her body? If she didn't know for a fact magic existed, she wouldn't believe her either.

Compared to the processing, actually being in prison wasn't too bad. Either through her fame or some insider having knowledge of her true power, she was deemed too dangerous to have around the other prisoners and so had spent her time in solitary. The isolation might drive some mad, she was sure. But Weiss had been alone before. She wasn't a fan, but her time in her eighty feet squared cell was little different from her time under her father's thumb, just with an itchy gray prison jumpsuit, food being delivered through a slot under the door instead being delivered by Klein, and an automated turret hanging from the ceiling ready to pepper her full of bullets if it detected her activating her aura.

Oh, and the seal stone cuff latched around her right wrist. That had certainly been an unwelcome surprise.

That had been what had primed Weiss' true terror. There was a possibility that COMMAND ESR honestly thought she was guilty and so had provided the kingdom with the necessary means to restrain her magic, but the white-haired wizard huntress doubted that tremendously. More likely, whoever it was who was Salem's agent in the kingdom, be they Intelligence or otherwise, had wanted to make sure she couldn't escape any time she wanted.

She needed to warn Winter. She needed to make sure Gray had recovered from his wounds from the explosion, that Whitley had survived his stabbing. She needed to tell _somebody_ about the danger that was closing in on her home. But she couldn't get out and no one came to visit her. That only fueled her anxiety even more. Perhaps there was some politics at play that prevented Winter from coming, but Gray wouldn't let anything of the sort stop him. Which led her to darker thoughts.

What if they were captured as well, plucked away by Salem's forces? What if they'd been killed, Winter caught in an ambush and Gray strangled in his sickbed while he was still recovering? What if the Queen of the Grimm had already struck and seized her home, and the first time her cell door opened fully, it would be to receive a dust round in her skull?

Or… what if her nightmare had come true, and they had all abandoned her? What if she was the loneliest of all once more?

No! No, that was ridiculous! She shouldn't let such preposterous things poison her mind. Maybe the isolation was getting to her after all.

She needed something to distract her. There was no way to tell time in the cell beyond when she got her meals and when she slept, but she needed to occupy herself. She couldn't use her semblance without provoking the turret, but she could run through the mental exercises of its use.

She closed her eyes and imagined her glyphs. To the untrained eye, at a glance, they'd all appear to be the same. But a true Schnee understood the subtle differences, the different symbols in the center, the varied sigils that lined their borders. Hell, when she'd finally gotten summoning down, she'd started noticing the differences between the sigils surrounding her Arma Gigas glyph and her Boarbatusk. Though, there was always one sequence that was there every time, a series of symbols…

" _Open the Gate."_

Weiss' eyes shot open. What was that? She'd just been thinking about the sigils of her summoning glyphs and then… that voice… deep, male, and foreboding. Dark. She'd never heard it before but it sent a flash of terror through her, greater than even the trepidation that had been smothering her since her arrest.

And the words it had spoken… she'd never known if the sigils around her glyphs translated to anything, but that sequence… for some reason, the words the voice had spoken seemed to fit within her mind.

But what gate was it talking about? If that was what the glyphs did, then she'd opened it a dozen times already, Winter and her mother more than that. What more was there for her to do? Was this involved with Salem somehow?

She was roused from her thoughts when the turret on the ceiling suddenly flared to life. Weiss' eyes widened, her aura crackling to life around her. If she was going to get shot for activating her aura, she might as well actually use it. If it shot at her, she'd defend herself.

At least, that was the thought before the turret's electronic _whirring_ suddenly went silent. The machine's barrels went limp, not even inactive. Just… broken.

"What in the world?" Weiss muttered.

She had no time for confusion before her cell door swung open. Once again, her eyes widened as a familiar figure strode inside and tossed Myrtenaster into her hands.

"Get up," Ana Tremaine commanded, no trace of the boisterous drunk Weiss had caught glimpses of before.

The young huntress obeyed and rose to her feet, grateful to have her sword returned. Still, after the luck she'd had, the sudden appearance of a Specialist at her door was more than a tad suspicious. "What's going on?"

"Winter sent me. I'm getting you out."

Weiss cocked an eyebrow. "Winter sent you? To break me out of prison?"

"Yeah, I know how it sounds. Rules-stickler extraordinaire masterminding a jailbreak," Ana said. "A lot of stuff has happened that I will be happy to tell you when we _aren't standing in the middle of a military prison_. Now, come on!"

The Specialist strode off after that, forcing Weiss' hand. If she didn't want to be found with her cell door open, her turret broken, and her weapon in hand, she had to follow.

The pair stealthily made their way through the dull steel halls of Glacial Cliffs' solitary wing, the cameras all dead on the walls. There were a scattered few guards on duty, but against them it was child's pay for Ana to teleport down another corridor and then create a distraction just as she was teleported back by her semblance's time limit. Of course, this tactic would be less effective against the hordes of Atlesian Knights posted around the facility, but Ana assured her that they had a workaround for that.

Indeed, when they passed by some of the robots, while Weiss had flinched at the sight of their viewscreens, the Knights acted as if the huntresses weren't there. The young wizard was so relieved she almost didn't notice another familiar aspect of the androids.

At last, Ana kicked open a door and led Weiss out onto a helipad. There was already a bullhead there, its back door opening up.

"Alright, head out with these guys. They'll take you to a safehouse that the Chairwoman's set up. Winter will meet you there soon enough," Ana explained. "I'll stay here and cover your tracks. Once we clear your name, we'll just say you were transferred to another site."

"Got it," Weiss replied. She raised her right wrist. "Think you can get this off?"

Ana shook her head. "Sorry, I didn't have the time to grab the key."

"It's fine," Weiss said. "Not too much of a complication. Weird that they only put a cuff on one wrist."

"Yeah. Can't see it doing much of use."

There it was. Weiss dropped back from the Specialist and raised Myrtenaster to her throat.

"Woah!" Ana yelped, raising her hands to show she wasn't carrying weapons. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Intelligence knows about magic," Weiss stated bluntly.

"Knows about what? I'm not Intelligence!"

"But you were born in it. You were part of Godmother's Haven. And Gray told me you talked with your sister about her attempt to arrest Blake back at Beacon," Weiss said. "You know what seal stone is. You're not dumb enough to be a dupe."

"Weiss, I don't know what you're talking about—"

"Oh, give it a rest, Agent Tremaine. It seems one of Jacques' brood actually has some intelligence. What a miracle."

Ana's eyes suddenly went wide with panic. Weiss might have enjoyed watching the traitor squirm if the voice, arrogant and full of itself, hadn't been accompanied by a surge of mystical energy. Both magic… and curse.

The door to the bullhead came down completely and a thin man in a finely made suit with perfectly combed mustache strode out, mockingly clapping his hands together.

"You? What are you?" Weiss muttered, keeping her sword at Ana's throat. "Some kind of demon?"

"Eclipse Etherious. So, part demon." The man gave her a slight bow of respect. "Dr. Arthur Watts, at your service."

"You promised you wouldn't hurt her!" Ana shouted. "Her and Winter, you promised they wouldn't be harmed!"

Watts rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes, no need to worry. Greater forces than you demand their safety. Though…" He flicked his hand and a small orange ball appeared in his palm; a small blurred figure visible within. "Of course, I have been given permission to use violence if necessary. So, I do recommend you come quietly, Ms. Schnee. The Queen is quite eager to see you again."

"Queen?" Ana said, genuinely surprised. "I thought the orders were to get her to safety?"

"They are. There is no place safer than at her side."

"Salem being the 'her', I presume," Weiss sneered. "I apologize. I must decline her invitation."

Watts smirked. "The Gate of the Maiden sought to give you invitations, my dear girl. The fact that I am signifies that the time for games has ended. You _will_ be coming with me."

Weiss' eyes narrowed, a glyph swirling behind her. "Not without a fight."

"No, don't!" Ana shouted, only for the specialist to leap away when Weiss stabbed for her throat.

Watts smirked. The scientist flicked the orange ball towards her. "Fight, my servant."

Weiss turned Myrtenaster towards him, speeding up the summoning glyph behind her. Despite her bravado, she was well aware of the disadvantage she was at. She was facing off with some sort of super demon, a fully trained specialist, and whoever else was in that bullhead. Meanwhile, her magic was sealed, her sword only had as much dust as her enemies put in it, and she was in a baggy prison uniform and sneakers instead of the sleek combat skirt and combat heels she was accustomed to. She did not possess anything close to an advantage in this fight. Still, she had every intention of making these traitors and terrorists work for their victory.

At least, that had been the plan. Then the orange orb Watts had thrown shattered. And out popped her worst nightmare.

"Schnee!"

Adam Taurus, roaring, furious, and very much _not dead_ stampeded out of the broken sphere, her crimson blade held high. Weiss' eyes widened, her brain spinning at the sight of the supposedly deceased man. Unfortunately, when her stunned mind found something focused on, it saw the restored SDC brand on his face rather than any other pertinent detail. Specifically, his incoming sword.

Weiss stumbled backwards, Myrtenaster barely rising to deflect his strike, the glyph behind her fading as her shock rose. Unfortunately, she caught a flash of light in the corner of her eye and instantly knew who her back had just smacked into.

Ana's arms coiled around her body, restraining her body in an iron hold. Adam did not waste the opening, smacking Myrtenaster from Weiss' weakened grip and smashing his hilt into her gut, the white-haired huntress folding over from the pain. The Blood-Soaked Bull grinned at her weakening, bringing back his sword for a heavy slash.

"Stop," Watt's voice rang out. Like a machine, Adam's arms froze. The faunus growled, but he sheathed his blade as his master walked forward. "That's a good little zombie. She's not to be harmed more than necessary."

"Yes."

"Yes, what?"

Adam's teeth gnashed together. "Yes… _master_."

Watts smirked. "Much better."

Weiss still couldn't figure out what was happening. How was Adam Taurus alive? She'd _watched_ Eleanor shoot him. She'd seen his skull cave in. People don't just walk that off.

While she was still reeling, Ana pulled her arms behind her back and restrained them with a gravity dust bola. The Tremaine sister frowned and leaned into Weiss' ear.

"I'm sorry," she said, sounding legitimately sincere. "Winter _did_ send me, but the plan was always to have her think to send me if things got to this point. And it wasn't supposed to get this bad."

"You're Intelligence," Weiss muttered. "You never left Intelligence."

Ana looked away in shame. "I tried. But no matter how much I tried to get away, Mom always pulls me back. All I can do is try to make sure Winter and Driz don't end up as casualties."

"Oh, don't be so morose, little girl," Watts chastised. "Your sister plays your mother's shadow like a good little dog and Winter and Mr. Fullbuster will soon be facing more distinguished company than we are. Now then, we must be on our way."

Ana frowned, but she made no more complaint when she handed Weiss to Adam. The bull faunus scowled at Weiss, but he did nothing else as he and Watts dragged Weiss to the bullhead.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

 _Target located. Analyzing threat level._

 _Tactical readout: confrontation inadvisable._

 _Final message… final directive must be followed._

 _Constructing alternate stratagem._

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

Gray's assessment of Amity Coliseum? Creepy.

Seriously, this was where the four kingdoms held their equivalent of the Grand Magic Games? It certainly had space comparable to the Domus Flau, but the mechanical juggernaut was nothing like the sunshine-filled arena. Of course, that may have just been because one had never had to go in for a tune-up.

The COMMAND hunting party had arrived at the storage site, a wide plain of ice surrounding a massive metal shipyard, dozens of bullheads and manta flyers scattered around the towering husk of Amity Coliseum. Drizzella had been ordered to join their Atlesian Knight escort in guarding their ship. If things went wrong, they'd need an escape route.

Which led to Gray, Winter, Esper, and Eleanor stalking through the decayed halls of the metal marvel. Several of the overhead lights were cracked, wires leaking out of the openings, sparks intermittently surging from their open ends.

"I assume this place looked better before the Fall of Beacon?" Gray joked.

Winter grimaced. "Even without the Grimm, civilian panic causes damage all its own. It will take time for the coliseum to be restored to its full glory."

"But it will be restored," Esper declared. "No matter the hardship, no matter the struggle."

"Yes, lovely sentiment, but can we stay focused," Eleanor snipped. She turned to Gray. "Can you sense her?"

Gray nodded. He'd felt the Winter Maiden's stockpile of ethernano surging out while they were still landing. It was like a font of water in the middle of a desert, flooding across the sands. Already, he could feel the ethernano levels of the air rising just by proximity. And he could easily tell where they were even higher.

He led the group down the hall until they came out in the middle of a grand stadium. The four of them stepped out onto the center, weapons drawn and eyes flickering around the seats.

At least, until steel doors crashed closed over every exit. A series of holographic roulettes flashed into the air, quickly landing on a pair of hill shapes. The outer edges of the arena opened up and the stadium split in half. To the right was a volcanic zone of boiling lava rivers, while the other was a rocky brown canyon.

And standing at the highest peak of that canyon, stood their enemy.

"Welcome," COMMAND ESR greeted them, as if they were old friends and not mortal enemies. "I've been expecting you all."

Winter pointed her swords towards the spymaster while Eleanor raised her pistols. Esper drew a pair of knives from her belt.

Gray merely narrowed his eyes. Now that he was close, now that she had sprung her trap and appeared before them, he had no more need for games.

"Gretel Rainart," Esper proclaimed. "In the name of the Kingdom of Atlas, you are under arrest—ah!"

Her words were cut off when a trio of pink ice lances slammed into her from behind and smashed her into the floor.

"Gray!" Winter roared, turning the shorter of her blades on him. "What the hell are you doing?"

The ice mage ignored her, instead noting Eleanor's completely unsurprised reaction. He glared at the Intelligence Agent, his other suspicion confirmed. "Do you want to do it? Or should I?"

Eleanor scowled, glancing up at COMMAND. "You did say he was smart."

"Indeed." COMMAND ESR reached up and unclasped her mask. For the first time, the symbol of Atlas fell away to reveal the face of Gretel Rainart, hazel eyes looking down on Gray with a twinkle of mirth.

For a moment, the Fairy Tail wizard feared he'd made another horrible mistake. Then he sensed the familiar, subtle weave of magic and he knew that he'd made more than just one. Just not now. Now, he needed to make up for the consequences of his previous poor judgment.

Another lance of ice fired from his hands pierced right through Esper's head. The chairwoman flashed white for a brief moment and then disappeared.

In her place, a single knife clattered to the stadium floor.

Winter's eyes widened. "Wha… what? A blade clone?"

Eleanor pivoted and pointed her gun towards the Specialist Commander.

Gray glared up at COMMAND ESR. "So, that's the mask you showed Ironwood. Did you kill her too?"

"Of course not," the phantom wearing Gretel Rainart's face snapped. "She was a brave huntress who fell to the Grimm. Hazel was grieved but he agreed that I should not let her death be in vain."

"How thoughtful," Gray snarked. "And the clones?"

COMMAND shrugged. "They copy whatever I look like when I summon them. If I've made any alterations, they take them on as their base. Was that what gave me away?"

"In part," Gray confessed. "The night of the gala and the night of the surplus complex raid, I realized you felt different, but I didn't think much of it. I was hardly focusing on you the second time anyway; it could have been a mistake. But then the bombing happened. And you were there when Weiss stabbed Whitley. And I got to thinking, transformation magic really isn't that hard to learn, is it?"

"What are you saying?" Winter murmured, though her wide, fearful eyes told Gray she'd already figured it out. She just dreaded the truth.

COMMAND sighed. She put a hand across her face and _pulled_. Her transformation magic came right off…

…and revealed the face of Esper Rosenflos.

"I had hoped to make a show of taking a dive before sneaking off, but it seems that won't be possible," the Council Chairwoman and Head of Atlas Intelligence explained. "We have much to discuss, my fairy friend."

Gray's eyes narrowed. He'd barely been able to sense the faint wisps of transformation magic on Esper at the Schnee Gala. It was such an economical magic, unless the user did something big, most wouldn't even notice it was there. At least, until it was gone and then they would know _something_ had changed. And as things had conveniently worked out more and more for Esper, her rivals being killed or disgraced as she accumulated more power, that something, the difference between interacting with her and one of her magicless blade clones, became just a bit more noticeable. He'd gone along with this trap to figure out whose side Winter and Eleanor were really on, and to make sure it was the real Esper that he was pounding into the dirt.

His only hesitation was that, even though the face that gazed upon him was the one all of Atlas had sung the praises of, he still sensed the faint whiff of transformation magic along with the rush of the Winter Maiden's power.

It seems there was much to discuss. Specifically, what the hell she planned for Weiss?

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Weiss couldn't stop staring at him, his branded eye glaring down at her with utter hatred. The crimson symbol of her family unrelenting in its judgment of her.

"He won't harm you," Watts assured her, sitting across from her in the bullhead's passenger chamber, though he wasn't tied down. "I've made some modifications to my zombies to prevent similar insubordination to that which crippled the previous holder of my curse. Why settle for the best when I can be better?"

Weiss glanced over to the cockpit, where a dark-skinned woman in an Ace Ops uniform flew the ship, Harriet Bree, if what the doctor's prattling of the events since her imprisonment was truthful. Like Adam, whenever Watts talked, which was often, she shot the scientist a look that said she would rip his head off if she could. Whatever she had done, whatever Adam had done, no one deserved to be ripped from the peace of death to be this monster's pawn.

Still, if her enemy liked to talk and she wasn't going anywhere for the moment, the least she could do was figure out what she was up against.

"Impressive," she said. "And that orange ball thing you stored him in? Another facet of your curse?"

"Oh no, my dear. That was the other half of my being. My magic," Watts smirked. "The magic of a Celestial Spirit. Specifically, one you know, I believe. The Goat."

Weiss eyes widened. "Capricorn couldn't do that."

"Well not naturally though. But he was once possessed by a wizard who could. Who had to use his body to do it," Watts explained. "Unfortunately, the fool found the magic he learned by proxy repulsive and refused to ever touch it. As you can imagine, I have only his memories to go off to learn it, and those are vague at best. Still, while my progress has been slow, I do have a reliable method of transporting my tools."

Adam growled. "I am not your tool—ah!"

Watts head struck and smacked Adam to the ground. The doctor, his body intermittently transforming into a black mist, swept over the bull faunus and planted a boot on his face.

"Yes, you are," Watts corrected him. "That is the only fate for the weak and the stupid."

"Get off him," Weiss demanded.

Watts cocked an eyebrow. "Really?"

He pressed his boot even harder into Adam's face, grinding the hard leather against the bull faunus' face. The undead terrorist bit his lips to stifle a scream of pain.

"I said get off him!" Weiss shouted.

"Why?" Watts inquired, turning on her. "Is it the brand? Perhaps I should have left it off when I reconstructed his face? You might not feel such mercy for the murderer of thousands if he did not bear your family's mark."

"There's no point in being cruel to him," Weiss said, unable to look at the crimson mark on Adam's face.

Watts smirked. He lifted his foot off Adam and strode over to Weiss, leering over her. "I am being cruel to be kind. Despite his current state, despite his _death_ , he still believes the sad little delusion that he is master of his own fate. Crushing that delusion, educating him in the truth of the matter, is the kindest thing I can do."

Weiss clenched her fists. "People are not tools."

"Of course, not _all_ people. Just as I said, the weak and the stupid," Watts continued. "The Blood-Soaked Bull, the Ace Operatives with their blind devotion to dear departed James Ironwood, even your plump old butler."

Weiss' veins froze to ice. "What?"

"Ah yes. He was to be the bomb carrier in the Gate of the Maiden's failsafe plan. Originally, she had him under her Macro, but when her efforts to entice you subtly failed and it became apparent that her sentimentality would throw off the entire plan, I took matters into my own hands."

"You… you killed him," Weiss hissed. "You killed him and then used him to kill my mother and the general."

Watts shrugged and stalked away. "Your mother was unintended. The bomb was created with the intention of the gardens being outside the blast radius. Only Jacques and James needed to be disposed of."

Weiss tugged against her bonds, desperately straining to break through the gravity bola and rip the smug scientist apart with her bare hands.

And then she fully processed what he'd said. 'Only'. Only Jacques and General Ironwood had been intended to die. But Madam Rosenflos had been bringing Whitley home, as she had been doing for months. If he'd waited a minute to spring his trap, he could have removed the need for their following coup attempt altogether. They could have wiped out Atlas' greatest leadership in one tragic stroke. Why wouldn't Watts, who clearly had no regard for anyone's life, seize the golden opportunity when it had been right in front of him?

Unless Madam Rosenflos wasn't actually a target. Of the bombing, or the coup. Was COMMAND ESR right all along? Was she actually behind the conspiracy? Had she used Winter, used General Ironwood, only to betray them all? Had she taken control of Weiss to stab Whitley, framed her for everything and nearly killed her brother? What other horrendous plans did she have in motion?

Weiss needed to warn Gray and Winter. But she couldn't do that while she was trapped three thousand feet in the air and being transported to Salem!

A sudden beep from the bullhead's radar roused her from her thoughts of vengeance.

"Doctor!" Harriet called. "We have incoming!"

"How many?" Watts demanded.

"One, sir."

"One?" Watts repeated incredulously. "Grimm?"

"Unidentified, but too small," the zombie Ace Ops confirmed.

Watts marched into the cockpit and leaned over the shorter woman's shoulder, glaring at the radar display. "A missile? No, still too small. But it's gaining too fast to be anything—No! Pietro, you bastar-"

Whatever else he was going say was lost when a blur of green, orange, and gray _smashed_ through the cockpit window, the sudden decompression pulling Watts and Adam, the only two in the ship not tied down or buckled in, towards the new opening. The wind howled as the demonic doctor struggled to stay within the ship, grasping onto whatever he could as his body struggled to stay solid. Mist didn't have nearly as much mass as flesh.

Weiss' eyes whirled over to the passenger area and proceeded to widen at the sight before her. The blur that had crashed inside now stood resolute upon the steel floor, wings of wired swords outstretched behind her and a mane of orange falling down her back.

"Salutations, Arthur Watts," Penny Polendina _snarled_.

Still, the android girl wasted no more time on words. Her swords streaked across the compartment and severed the bonds keeping Weiss in her seat. She raced over and plucked the Schnee girl into her arms, bridal style. Her blades took position beside her and began to spin, twin crackling spheres of emerald energy building within their confines.

"You impetuous toy!" Watts shouted. The pressure of the cabin had begun to equalize, enabling the doctor to take form within the ship, stomping towards the two girls. "Do you really think yourself strong enough to overcome me?"

"Such a scenario is unlikely," Penny confessed. "However, unlike you, I can fly."

Watts' eyes widened. "No!"

Weiss didn't have time to follow the plan before Penny's sword whipped around unleashed her twin energy blasts behind them. The bullhead's backdoor was ripped out, wind once more rushing out of the aircraft. Watts tried to dash forward, using the path of the pressure to accelerate his chase, but Penny was closer. She leapt out of the improvised exit and carried a panicking, magicless and auraless, Weiss into open air.

"We're gonna die! We're gonna die! We're gonna—we're not dying! We're… we're flying!" Weiss cheered, the bracing air suddenly much more comfortable as Penny's sword wings spread out behind her. "Penny, you can fly! And you're alive!"

The robot girl beamed at Weiss. "Both of those statements are true. It is good to see you again, Weiss! I have followed my father's… his final directive and found my friend."

"Your timing couldn't be better," Weiss said, though her smile faded once she processed her friend's words. "Wait, final?"

Penny glanced away, her face crestfallen. "The Atlas Government has been compromised. We should land and get you out of these restraints. There is a lot we must discuss."

Weiss' eyes narrowed. Penny had primarily been Ruby's friend, but she'd come around enough that they'd all grown rather fond of the wholesome girl in time. Finding out she was a robot after her match with Pyrrha didn't change that. And Rosenflos and Watts had scarred even her.

No more. She wasn't going to let them hurt anyone else she cared about.

"Do you know where my sister is? Or an Intelligence Agent named Gray Fullbuster?" she asked. "They're the last obstacles between Rosenflos and complete control of Atlas."

"The Council Chairwoman is involved?" Penny gasped. Her face hardened into a scowl of determination, oddly like Ruby. "I accessed the government network a few hours ago to find which prison you were being kept in. There was a notice that the Chairwoman and the Specialist Commander would be unavailable on a mission to the Amity Storage Site."

Weiss nodded. "How fast can you get us there?"

"Fast enough."

The jets at Penny's feet exploded with force, rocketing the two girls across the Solitas sky. Their enemies hadn't won yet.

* * *

 **An extra huge thank you to my patrons: ArcherMcMuffin, Gregg Tracton, Keith Traction, Annaya Chan, Nora Okonus, Paula mandel, KefkaesqueXIII, Christian Howard, SanyaBane, Matthew Blevins, and David Wayman.**

 **Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!**

 **Go Forth and Conquer!**


	33. Chapter 32

**My god, this thing got long. I'm happy with it, this one of my favorite chapters I've written in a long while, but I did not expect it to be this long.**

 **Heads up, due to school bombarding me with projects, work taking up my weekend, and me needing to make some very crucial decisions about the direction of my life very soon, there very likely won't be a chapter next week. I will try my best, but if there is nothing, this is the reason.**

 **Now... here. We. Go.**

 **If you wish to support me and my college tuition, please check out my P a treon for future chapter summaries, story ideas and more: p a Treon.(c om) (backslash) themaster4444**

 **Beta-ed by xenosaiyan**

* * *

"Where is Weiss?"

"Safe," Esper assured them. "She is out of prison and on her way to a friend."

Gray frowned. "You mean Salem? That's why you've been trying to get her since the beginning?"

Esper nodded, a resigned expression on her face. "I'd hoped to get it done in a simple manner, that's what the internship offer was intended for. As much of a joy as Whitley has been, it would have been so much easier if Jacques had only agreed to send her."

"A joy?" Winter numbly murmured. "You had him stabbed."

"An unfortunate necessity," Esper sighed. "The plan had been for Weiss' interactions with COMMAND ESR to lead her into the arms of either the spymaster, or her nemesis, the councilwoman."

Despite the situation, Gray couldn't help his smirk of pride. "Didn't expect her to try to strike out on her own, did you?"

Strangely, Esper mirrored his smile. "No, I did not. Though, in hindsight, I should have anticipated the possibility. She is quite the extraordinary girl. As much as he overstepped himself, Arthur was correct that the failsafe was necessary. We would never have isolated her without it."

"Arthur…" Winter muttered. "Arthur Watts…"

"Necessary?" Gray growled, frost gathering on his fingertips. "Yeah, I suppose. Just like it's necessary for me to smash your skull into the dirt."

Esper raised her hand. "Wait, please. We need not be enemies. Weiss will be with the Queen soon enough, and you can both join her. Winter, your skills would be a tremendous aid to the cause, and Gray, all members of Fairy Tail are welcome within our ranks."

"Really?" Gray cocked an eyebrow. "I know we have a reputation for being crazy, but do you really think any member of the guild would join Salem?"

"I don't see why not. Your philosophy has inspired everything she's ever done for the last several millennia," Esper replied. "Plus, Happy hasn't had any complaints."

Gray's eyes widened. "Happy?"

"Yes, he's done good work for the Queen over the years. As has his partner."

"Natsu?" Gray gasped, before his hands clenched into fists. "Even if that flame brain would side with Salem, which he wouldn't, he'd never be able to keep a conspiracy secret. You're lying, just like you have since the beginning."

"I'm not lying," Esper insisted. "I understand what's happening, there's just some confusion over which partner I'm referring to—"

"There's no confusion!" Gray shouted. "Even now, you're hiding behind someone else's face! Take it off! All the transformation magic!"

Esper cocked an eyebrow but shrugged. Once more, she put a hand over her face and dissolved the rest of the transformation magic…

… and… um…

He leaned towards Winter. "Do you know who this is?"

The Specialist Commander's eyes were still glassed over, but when she glanced up at Esper's new face, her _real_ face, she could only shrug.

The Council Chairwoman sighed. She didn't look too different from how she had before, her cheeks a little more statuesque, her nose a little thinner, but on the whole her features weren't too different from how she was before, her golden eyes gazing pityingly down on them all.

"Transformation magic is easier the less modification you make," she explained. "Since the face of Esper Rosenflos would need to be worn often, it was in my best interests to make sure it was as cost-efficient as possible. It only needed to be different enough to fool those who knew me before."

"Before what?" Gray inquired. "Before you became this?"

"Before I started fighting the right war."

"Don't be so sure about that," Gray challenged. "Because you're not going to win this one. I'm going to kick your ass and make you tell me how to save Weiss, Happy, and everyone else!"

Esper shook her head sadly and reached a hand into her jacket. "In a fair fight, you just might. I'm only half demon, but Devil Slayer Magic will still have some effect on me. With one as powerful as you as its master, 'The Man who Conquered Winter', 'The Hellsbane', 'The Devil that Demons Fear'—

"When did I get those titles? Have I always had those titles? Better than 'Salamander' at least."

"—It is entirely plausible that you could defeat me even if I go all out, if conditions were equal," she confessed. She withdrew her hand from her jacket, revealing a small silver detonator. "But I have been dreading this confrontation since the Schnee Manor explosion. I would be a poor strategist if I did not set the conditions however I liked."

Her thumb pressed down on the detonator.

Gray's eyes widened, his insides erupting in agony. He collapsed to his knees, his palms smacking into the ground to keep him from falling over completely. Even still, his muscles spasmed as a stream of his own blood came rushing out of his mouth.

"Fullbuster!" Winter yelled, making to dash to his side. Unfortunately, Lucifer ignited onto the scene and blocked the Schnee's path, Eleanor's gun now aimed at her.

The Ice Mage would have loved to finally put that damned fire cat in its place, but he currently felt like someone had told Erza there was strawberry cake hidden in his stomach and the Fairy Queen had gone on a scavenger hunt for it.

"What's… happening…" he shouted, or tried to in-between vomiting up his own organs. "What did you do to me?!"

"Bane Particles," Esper answered succinctly. "Intelligence has gotten quite creative in using them over the last decade. While you were unconscious after the Schnee Manor bombing, I had you injected with a series of microscopic capsules, each containing a single particle." She raised up the detonator and tossed it away. "That simply sent them the signal to open up and release their payload into your bloodstream."

"The hospital…" Gray groaned, recalling exactly who had been watching over him then as well as the syringe she'd had when he'd awoken. "Ana…"

They'd been betrayed. No, that implied anyone had ever been on their side. They'd been trapped like rats in a maze, pieces in a game where all the players were killed off until it was just Esper Rosenflos vs. COMMAND ESR. And when both players were the same, it didn't matter what moves a piece made.

He'd known there was something up. He'd known there was a trap afoot and he'd still walked right into it. He'd thought he was clever or strong, but even if the steps hadn't all been as Esper had planned, he'd still danced to the same tune. And because of that, Weiss was on her way to Salem, gift wrapped in tissue paper with pink ribbons tied on top. Where apparently, Happy and maybe Natsu already were.

All that guilt, all that self-loathing, it filled him with plenty of anger, absolute fury really. And his fury was the wrath of hell.

Whether he could stand or not, whether he could win or not, it'd sure feel plenty good to show Esper Rosenflos exactly what that felt like.

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Ana.

She'd had Ana watch over Gray. She'd sent Ana to save Weiss.

 _Ana_ had betrayed her to COMMAND.

No, betrayed her to _Esper_.

Esper was COMMAND. Esper was one of Salem's Gates. Esper was the Winter Maiden. Esper, who'd been like a second mother to her, was behind everything.

"There's still time to rethink this," Esper called down, even as Gray vomited more and more blood. "Happy and Natsu were infected by Bane Particles when they came to us, and since then, the Queen has created a cure. Come to the Grimmlands and we can give it to you. A Devil Slayer can resist them longer than most, but they will kill you in time. No one here wants that. There has been enough death."

"Enough… death?" Winter ground out. She looked to her training, tried to suppress her raging emotions, but this was too much. Too much shock, too much betrayal, too much _fury_. "You stabbed Whitley! You murdered my mother! General Ironwood!"

A look of remorse, _genuine remorse_ , crossed over the spymaster's face. The sight of it only made Winter's blood boil more.

"What happened to Whitley was improvisation on my part. But I made sure he was stabbed in a non-vital area and that I was on hand to keep him from bleeding out," Esper explained, as if that somehow made it better. "As for Willow, you have my sincerest apologies. She was never supposed to die."

"And the general? The man you called friend? The one you murdered and then paraded his corpse around like a puppet while you dragged his name through the mud?"

"James was my friend," she had the gall to declare. "And because he was my friend, I know that if it was for the good of Remnant, he would not hesitate to sacrifice anything, his life and reputation included. And what we are doing _is_ for the good of Remnant, no matter how horrible it may be."

Winter could not contain the tears that flooded down her face. Whether they were of rage or sorrow she could not tell. "You told me, 'COMMAND ESR excels at manipulating perception'. You flattered yourself, perhaps not undeservedly. After all, I was foolish enough to think you actually did want the kingdoms to work together."

"Oh, that is the plan," Esper said. "The enemy of all mankind, human and faunus, is the Grimm. No one kingdom can fight them, not truly. At best, they might be able to hold them off, maintain the status quo, as Ozpin has. And in the process, hundreds of thousands will die, again and again, generation after generation. Only together do any of us have a chance at making real change, at destroying the Grimm once and for all."

"Destroy… that's nonsense!" Winter accused. "You mastermind treason and subvert democracy for such an asinine fantasy?!"

Esper shrugged. "The thing about democracy? Despite Ozpin's best intentions at the end of the Great War, it has done nothing but enabled oligarchy, stagnation, and decay across Remnant. If a hundred voices are charged with a decision, half of them will make it based off of fear. A kingdom of comforting mediocrity. A single voice, a single purpose, is necessary to bring true change. Monarchy and dictatorship can bring about horrible atrocities in the wrong hands, it is true, but half-measures will not destroy the Grimm. Humanity must be united and at least one kingdom must be _wholly dedicated_ to the task for it to have even a chance of coming about, either through diplomacy or war."

"And for that, you put your faith in the master of the Grimm?"

"Master of the Grimm? Please, Winter, we've watched your career with great interest. We know your tactical skills are not this poor," Eleanor chided, drawing the Specialist's ire. "The Grimm do not eat, drink, or sleep. They do not tire, and they only get stronger with age. They are endless, unlimited, and only a select portion of humanity can be fielded against them. It's a miracle mankind has not fallen through sheer attrition alone. If such an army had _any_ form of strategist at its head, the kingdoms would have fallen long ago."

Winter glared at the Special Agent. "I'm surprised one of your experience would go along with this scheme, Eleanor?"

"I don't see why. I've never made secret my love for this kingdom, or the measures I would go to in order to protect it."

"Not the dictatorship, you've always been a tyrannical bitch," Winter growled. "I'm just surprised you would go along with such an internationalist plot."

Eleanor smirked. "When the world is united, one of the kingdoms will need to be the leader for the rest to follow. Ensuring that Atlas is the best suited for the role is my duty."

"And damn anyone who gets in your way," Winter finished, tightening her grip on her swords.

"Try not to get anybody killed, and you'll end up getting _everybody_ killed," Esper morosely proclaimed. "I do not do this with a clear conscience, Winter. What we have done is monstrous, I have no illusions about that, but it must be done. I've tried being the huntress in shining armor and it did nothing. Something must change, or humanity will be trapped fighting the Grimm forever. Or at least until they get lucky and we all die. It is a hard choice, but it must be made."

Winter gazed down at her blades. "I'm no stranger to hard choices. I've ordered retreats to abandon villages that could not be held, condemned hundreds to save thousands. Sometimes the ends justify the means. But construct an entire philosophy around such a tenant and—"

"—you will create an ideology of evil, excusing any sin under the rationalization of utilitarianism," Esper interrupted, shaking her head. "Trust me, Winter. I've already considered all these angles."

"Ah, my apologies. I suppose I should just cut to the chase," Winter said, lifting her head back to the sky, bloodshot, tearstained eyes glaring at the Council Chairwoman. "You murdered my father, you bitch!"

Eleanor cocked an eyebrow. "Really? You're mad about _Jacques_?"

"No, she's mad about James," Esper correctly deduced. "She means metaphorical father, not biological."

"Oh, shut up!"

Eleanor's eyes widened, the Special Agent twirling away as a ridge of pink ice erupted towards her last position, dispersing Lucifer in the process. Winter seized the opportunity and slammed her swords into the dirt, a summoning glyph spawning in front of her. Even still, she glanced back at Gray, surprised that the wizard had been able to speak, let alone attack the elder Tremaine.

She felt the chill of the cold before her eyes found him. He had made it to his feet, his chest bare and his guildmark visible. A murky, black tattoo covered the entirety of his right arm, across his flesh and over the side of his face, his formerly messy hair spiked upward. At his feet, sparse spindles of frost spread across the earthen field.

"Impressive," Esper complimented. "But even with that form, you're no demon. You'll only be at half strength, if that. The Bane Particles have spread throughout your bloodstream, killing you from the inside. In that state, you cannot beat me."

Another glob of blood trickled down from Gray's mouth, confirming the golden-eyed woman's words. Still, the Fairy Tail wizard set his mouth in a snarl and extended his right arm, a jagged blade of pink ice spawning from his wrist.

Winter expected him to go on the attack, but instead, he sliced a long gash into his own side. A river of blood flooded out of the wound before he pressed his hand into the open flesh. A web of frost dove into his veins and sealed the injury shut, his frozen sword taking on a darker, crimson hue.

Esper actually clapped at that display. "Magnificent! Risky, but magnificent! Freeze your own blood and as many of the Bane Particles in your system as you can. Of course, losing that much bodily fluid will make the gains only marginally more helpful than if you hadn't."

Gray narrowed his eyes. "Winter! Can you take care of the spy?"

Winter glared at Eleanor, Lucifer respawned beside her. The Schnee was substantially less worried about that than before as her summoning circle bore fruit. Her shining white Manticore Grimm rose from the blazing sigil and roared at the traitor.

"I've got it handled," she growled. "You take the demon."

"With pleasure," he shouted, a magic circle materializing before him. " **Ice Devil's Zeroth Long Sword!** "

Dozens of pink and scarlet ice blades shot out of the sigil and streaked for Esper. The Council Chairwoman merely sighed, a sapphire glow lighting up around her eyes. The power of the Winter Maiden surged through her and a cyclone tossed the bombardment off course, the few projectiles that still came close being slowed enough for her to easily dodge them.

"So be it," she muttered. She reached into her coat and withdrew three knives in each hand. A golden energy, different from the maiden's magic, slinked out of her eyes and attached itself to each of the daggers, their blades set alight with a shining glow. "I shall do my very best not to kill you, but I can make no promises."

Well, that wasn't encouraging. But there wasn't anything she could do about that at the moment. Even wounded as he was, Gray had a far better chance against a Gate than she did. Which meant she needed to trust him to handle himself, while she validated his trust in her by keeping Eleanor off him.

She couldn't say she wouldn't enjoy that task.

Her Manticore shot a fireball downrange, the Intelligence Agent leaping aside as the ethereal blast streaked right through Lucifer. Winter took the opportunity to jump atop her mount and charge.

Eleanor glared at her. "Lucifer, pounce!"

The ten-foot fire cat howled and stampeded towards Winter. The Specialist summoned a series of glyphs in midair and hopped into the sky just as the flaming beast collided with her mount. The Manticore roared in agony, but it was a creature that breathed fire. Lucifer's blaze could kill it, but it would take quite a while. More than enough time for Winter to take out its master.

She streaked through the sky towards Eleanor, her blades flickering around her to cut a volley of her foe's bullets out of the air. Her glyphs gave her one final speed burst and she glided towards her enemy. The Intelligence Agent scowled and pulled out a combat knife, using it and her firearm to meet Winter's swords.

The two women engaged in a furious close combat duel, dancing through the rocky landscape, each trying to play for an advantage. Eleanor backflipped over a boulder to gain some distance for her pistol, but Winter conjured a swarm of small Nevermores to push her off balance, charging in to score a solid slash to her opponent's chest, one that would have sliced her wide open had it not been for her aura. Yet, as soon as the strike landed, the Special Agent had already shot down the Nevermores and parried Winter's blades to the side with her knife. She took advantage of the brief opening and body checked the Schnee against the boulder, before hopping back and letting loose with her firearm.

Winter brought her blades in to deflect as much of the barrage as she could, taking the rest of the stings on her aura. She conjured several glyphs to her side and shot around to her opponent's flank. Her swords swept down as one and slammed into Eleanor's weapons. Normally, she was not a fighter than utilized brute strength, but her rather reasonable emotional turmoil had led to her form slipping just a bit. And when it sent her enemy skidding out of the canyon zone and into the lava area, who was she to complain?

She kept up the pressure and followed up her rage with a vicious combination of swift strikes. Eleanor backpedaled, unable to get the room she needed to bring up her pistol and forced to use it and her knife to parry the onslaught, her breath steadily becoming quick.

That was it, that was how Winter would gain victory. Skilled as Eleanor was, her form was perfect even by the Schnee's exacting standards, the key difference between the two women was unavoidable and perhaps a bit sad.

Eleanor Tremaine was old. Her grey hair was not unearned, she had served since before the Faunus Rights Revolution and apprenticed under Fria when she'd first joined Atlas Intelligence. Even with constant practice and use, even with aura, that time took its toll. The Special Agent's stamina had waned where her determination had not. Her skill and the sheer power of her semblance would enable her to overcome most foes nonetheless, but Winter was not most foes. She was the pride of the Specialist Corps, trained personally by General Ironwood and blessed with one of the most powerful and versatile semblances in history. Every technique that her enemy knew, she knew as well, and had a body several decades younger to execute them with.

Perhaps there was some tragedy to that, the inevitable march of time crippling such a dedicated soldier. But given everything said soldier had put Winter through and warped her daughters into, the Specialist Commander couldn't find it in herself to feel sympathy for the woman. In fact, she was fairly certain she was as unsympathetic as could be.

Thus, when she at last cornered the Special Agent at the edge of a raging magma river, she felt no remorse for thrusting straight for her eye. With the combat knife and gun forced to the side, she would either strike her enemy and possibly skewer her skull, or she would force her to dodge backward and be burned to death by lava.

If she had not been blinded by rage, perhaps she would have considered that there were more than two possible outcomes to the present scenario. Specifically, those created by the fact that lava glowed. And by extension of that glow, cast _shadows_.

A pair of machine pistols sprouted out of the darkness in the lower view of Winter's sight. Only the Specialist Commander's hard-earned combat instincts allowed her to react in time to abort her attack and jump away before the firearms unleashed a barrage of dust rounds.

She growled as Drizzella rose from the shadows (so much for guarding the bullhead), her twin machine pistols locked on her former team leader.

"Thank you, Drizzella," Eleanor said, catching her breath.

"Of course, ma'am," the scarred agent replied. To most, her face would be a mask of professional indifference, but Winter knew her better, or at least she had thought she had. If she wasn't manipulating her as she had before, then her former teammate was absolutely miserable.

"Surrender, Winter," Eleanor offered. "You cannot defeat us both. I have always admired your professionalism. Don't let grief over one man destroy all that such dedication could do for your kingdom."

A dying howl resonated through the area, signaling that Lucifer had finished off her Manticore and would rejoin its master soon. Even without the giant fire cat's presence, Winter was not so prideful as to say she was confident of her chances against the mother-daughter pair alone.

She glanced towards Drizzella, never lowering her blades, but hoping she could keep them focused on Eleanor soon. "Is this what you want to be, Drizzella? A traitor? A murderer?"

Drizzella sighed, averting her yellow eyes in shame. "You say that like I wasn't already. I've been a monster for a long time, old friend. If I turn back now, if I turn it all into a half-measure, if I don't do everything I can to make the better world it was all for, then everything I've done has been for nothing. Everyone I've killed died for nothing."

She looked back up; the glistening of tears visible in her eyes. "Please, Winter… don't make me destroy you."

The Specialist Commander tightened her grip on her swords. "Don't be so sure you'll get the chance. I've heard a great deal about the miraculous capabilities of Fairy Tail wizards."

"Miracles are a matter of fortune," Eleanor taunted. "Fortune favors the prepared. And no one is more prepared than COMMAND ESR."

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

Gray did not have a good feeling about this battle.

Oh sure, he was full of rage and raring for a fight. Thanks to the ethernano spillage of the Winter Maiden, he had plenty of fuel to maintain his Full Demon mode. But what his enemy had noted about her little Bane Particle trick was one hundred percent accurate. His strategy of thinning his blood had reduced the infection somewhat, but it had also reduced his stamina. His opening attack had not been nearly as fast as it should have been. If he lost any more blood, he'd be a dead man walking.

But it was his only chance. His opponent was the Winter Maiden, and Weiss had told him of how the Fall Maiden had contended with Wendy when she was in Dragonforce. But even more than that, she was one of Salem's Gates. She wielded the Macro Curse and who knew what other powers. Not that she'd need much more, the Strauss siblings had not been secretive about how close they'd come to death against Seilah.

So why hadn't she used it already? She wanted to take them alive, so surely it would have been easier to just order them to stand down? Maybe he was immune as a Devil Slayer, he'd been resistant to Mard Geer's Memento Mori, but Winter had no such protection. Or was there something else shielding the Specialist from the demonic power? What was the difference between Winter now, and Weiss right after the manor bombing?

Suddenly, Esper shot towards him on jets of fire and his quandaries were pushed to the side. The power of the maiden blazed sapphire around her eyes and a pair of lightning bolts flashed towards him. Gray slammed his fist over his palm.

" **Ice-Make Shield!** "

A lotus of clear blue ice spawned before him, intercepting the lightning even as the frozen defense shattered to pieces. Esper closed in, ready to tear him apart, but he was not so sluggish as to let her bypass his defenses with such a simple opening strike. More frost poured over his palms as his follow-up spell went off.

" **Ice-Make Wall!** "

A towering prism sprouted up in the ruins of the shield, barring Esper's path to a direct assault. The Chairwoman flipped around in midair, slamming her feet into the ice wall. A growing white-hot glow informed Gray that she was not planning to go over it.

He dashed back just as the beam of flames tore through the wall, only for his eyes to widen as the six golden daggers were thrown in after. He scowled, bobbing and weaving through the shining steel as Esper charged with two new knives in hand, golden light washing over the blades from her eyes. Gray could tell it was magic, but it didn't feel the same as the maiden's power. In fact, it felt like Lucy's keys, the Eclipse Gate, and…

Ruby's eyes.

He spawned blade bracers over both his arms and met Esper's glowing daggers head on, only for a clout of blood to sputter out of his mouth as he mustered all the strength he could, his body crying out in protest at the overachieving action. His enemy only sent him a sympathetic look of pity.

"You won't last much longer," she reminded him. "Why don't you surrender?"

"Why don't you?" Gray growled. He expanded his arm blades, crafting a second pincer that would envelop Esper's daggers and enable him to trap them.

Unfortunately, that plan went to hell when he was slugged in the face by… Esper?

Six more Espers surrounded him, some carrying knives while others merely brandished their fists. He kicked himself internally. Her first volley of knives hadn't just been an attack, it was a maneuver to have him encircled by her blade clones!

They fell on him like a pack of hungry Vulcans, their knives digging into his aura while each punch felt like getting smacked by a truck. He didn't know if the copies had aura of their own, but clearly Esper's natural strength was immense even compared to the foes he'd faced in the past. He pulled in his arms, shielding his vital areas from direct assault as the onslaught continued.

But it also allowed him to get closer to the ground.

He smacked his hands into the dirt of the canyon, a magic circle blossoming beneath his feet. " **Ice Devil's Zeroth Impalement Hell!** "

The original Esper leapt back, but her clones were not so lucky. From underneath them, the chill of hell seeped through and a forest of pink ice spears as thick as tree trunks surged upward. The demonic lances torn through the clones' chests. Based on the one he'd already destroyed, they couldn't take too much punishment before they dispersed, so this would be more than enough to revert them to their original forms—

Each of the bodies flashed, the daggers visible within the light. Unfortunately, the light was the glow of six golden explosions.

They were too close. Gray didn't have the time to throw up a defense. All he could do was brace himself and tank the blasts. The Ice Wizard was sent flying, ricocheting off his own ice spires until he crashed into the rocky floor. He struggled to his feet, only to see Esper leapfrogging from stake to stake, her twin knives aglow with more golden light.

" **Golden Spirit Twin Twilight Slash!** "

Her hands were a blur and the shining blades extended farther than the daggers' steel ever could. But they certainly felt like real swords when they carved a cross-shaped gash deep in Gray's chest, his aura crumpling to nothing as blood poured out of the wound. He pressed his hands and plugged the injury with ice, but he could already feel his limited strength fading. Despite his best efforts, he fell to one knee.

"I thought… they didn't… have magic," he stuttered out, trying to reclaim his breath.

"They don't," Esper clarified, stalking up to him. "But they are still weapons, which means my magic can be imbued into them. Enough for a wail, or other purposes."

"Spirit Slayer," Gray deduced, glancing up at his enemy. "Now, I'll admit my head's more than a little fuzzy right now, but your eyes don't look silver."

"Was every Dragon Slayer trained by a dragon?" she replied. "Why should their magic be the only kind with multiple generations?"

"Multiple generations?"

Well, terrifying implications aside, that was an interesting concept. Between Laxus, Sting and Rogue, and then Diabolos, there were five generations of dragon slayer magics. Yet, for God Slayers, Devil Slayers, and most other magics, he'd only ever heard of one each. It'd be quite the conversation to have with Gramps. You know, if he wasn't fifteen minutes away from dying a horrible, painful death.

Gray would talk tough all day, but he wasn't Natsu. He knew when he was outgunned. He was confident he could have taken Esper at his best, but she'd known that as well and ensured he wasn't. She'd rigged the game before it began. Normally, he'd do the smart thing in such a situation and perform a strategic retreat to fight another day, but that would be quite difficult when he could barely stand. Even if by some miracle he was able to make it to one of the airships, he had no idea how to fly one.

If he was going down, he was going down swinging. But privately, he was _really_ hoping for that miracle.

Suddenly, the coliseum's glass ceiling shattered. Esper glanced upward to see what had occurred. Gray was sorely tempted to do so as well, but he knew he couldn't afford to pass up such a chance. An Ice-Make Lance burst from his hands and tore towards the councilwoman. She was enough of an experienced combatant not to have taken her eyes completely off him, so she was able to dodge. Still, it provided him with some much-needed distance as she fell back further into the canyon area. Only then did Gray look to the sky.

He had no idea who the flying robot redhead was but considering she was carrying Weiss down through the air, he was counting her as a friend. Weiss nodded to the girl and leapt down from her arms, several levels of glyphs cushioning her descent, one particularly prominent one following behind her. The winged girl flew off towards the volcanic zone, probably to help Winter.

Meanwhile, Weiss landed atop the canyon zone, an Arma Gigas slamming down behind her, cracking the rocky surface. The Ice God Slayer rose to her full height, her crystal blue eyes locked onto Esper.

Gray smirked. Who needed miracles? He had family.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

"Weiss? It's good to see you," Esper greeted. "Though, I confess, it is quite unexpected."

Weiss glared at the Council Chairwoman. It was her. Though her face was a bit different, a bit more familiar, the woman before her was definitely Esper Rosenflos. And the Intelligence uniform she wore confirmed the young huntress' theory.

"COMMAND ESR," she said, her voice purposely even and controlled. "Well, you look better without the mask, but I can't say much for the personality."

Esper shot her a sad smile and bowed her head. "I apologize for the deception. I had hoped to bring you into the fold before any of it became necessary. But alas, I failed you in that regard."

"How unprofessional of you," Weiss mocked. Her eyes flickered over to where Gray was struggling to rise from his knees. Her mentor was in his Full Demon form and still looked like he'd been put through a meat grinder, while Esper appeared right as rain. If the head of Intelligence was strong enough to batter her teacher so badly, the God Slayer didn't like her own chances, even with her Arma Gigas. She needed to stall, keep her enemy talking until Gray was able to catch his breath or Penny finished aiding Winter against the Tremaines. "If you'd been a bit more competent, maybe you wouldn't have had to make me stab my own brother."

"I can only apologize that it had to be done," Esper said, actually sounding sincere. It made Weiss' blood boil, to hear _empathy_ from such a butcher. "Rest assured, Whitley will wake soon, and regardless of your choices here, will be welcome in the new era."

"How comforting. Maybe if you'd been able to keep your pet mad scientist in line, he could enjoy it with mother."

Esper raised an eyebrow. "Arthur has clearly been talking too much."

"In between murdering Penny's father and raising the dead. For such a bastard, he's quite the busy man," Weiss sneered. She glanced over to Gray, who looked up to meet her eyes. Why hadn't he recovered yet?

"I can't claim to be fond of anything but his work ethic," Esper replied. "He overstepped himself activating the failsafe."

"The failsafe. The one _you_ designed. Designed not to hurt my mother, so that's a point in your favor I suppose," Weiss said, before snarling at the councilwoman. "And yet, I can't help but notice that in both your plan and the good doctor's, _Klein was still the carrier_."

"Weiss…"

"Now there are three possible ways such a plan could have gone," she pushed forward. "Either you had always intended for him to get caught in the blast, you intended to keep him as a slave under Macro forever… or you would have killed him yourself to tie up loose ends. You couldn't risk him spilling what he knew, after all."

Esper glanced away.

"Well?" Weiss demanded. "Am I wrong?"

"No," she confirmed. "I took no joy in the act. But one person's life in the face of millions… it was a necessary sacrifice."

"Easy to say when you give up nothing."

"I gave up everything," Esper forlornly mused. "And it did _nothing_."

Gray suddenly heaved over, a glob of blood flooding out of his lips. Weiss' eyes widened. He definitely was worse off than she'd thought.

"He's infected with Bane Particles. Stalling will not help him," Esper revealed.

Weiss snarled. Her efforts had been seen through.

"There is no need for us to fight," Esper said. "You and Gray can come with me to the Grimmlands. He can be cured, and the Queen will open both of your eyes."

Weiss' grip on Myrtenaster clenched. "You manipulated me, my sister, and my friends, used me to hurt my family. Your schemes killed my mother, the man who raised me, and my friend's father. No need for us to fight?" Her Arma Gigas raised its titanic broadsword. She slammed the pommel of her rapier to her palm, black frost shimmering over her hands. "I _disagree_."

She didn't know how it happened, she never did, but suddenly her prison uniform was flying away, distinctly off her body. For the first time since she'd returned to Remnant, only her undergarments remained, the rest of her flesh exposed to the open air, to the cold. To her _power_.

" **Ice God Jotunheim!** "

She slammed her blade into the ground and black ice erupted over the canyon, cracking the earth into hunks of rock and boulders as it coated everything in sight. Esper's feet were frozen over, her body trapped in place. Weiss readied another spell but her Arma Gigas was already charging. With any luck, it'd cleave the spymaster's head from her shoulders in a single strike—

Esper's knife flicked out, a golden glow shrouding the steel. As it passed through its arc, the dagger's blade shot out into a yards long shining lance. The blazing pike shredded through the Arma Gigas' armor as if it were wet paper, before instantly returning to its original size. The towering figure sunk to its knees and faded away into blue sparks.

"Grimm, Weiss? Really?" Esper shook her head, casually extending her daggers once more and freeing her feet from the black ice. "Against a Spirit Slayer?"

Spirit Slayer? She didn't have silver eyes!

Weiss snarled. She conjured a time dilation glyph beneath her feet and a line of normal sigils spread throughout the air. She spawned an ice nail and stomped it into her kingdom.

" **Ice God Gleipnir!** "

A mass of thick frozen chains spawned from her hands, the end melting into one existence with the nail. Then, she rocketed forward across her glyphs, a black and white blur as she shot through the air, spawning spire after spire of ice and attaching a link of the binding to each. Before long, she'd crafted an intricate web of divine darkness, Esper unable to move in any direction but straight up without getting trapped in her grip. Honestly, it was a tad surprising she was able to scourge up the ethernano for such a maneuver so easily. The only other time she'd had access to such power was at… Beacon Tower.

Esper's eyes lit up with a sapphire glow and Weiss realized exactly what the overflowing ethernano coming from the councilwoman was.

The Maiden flicked her hands and a typhoon roared around her. Weiss and her chains were blown back as her enemy rose over her trap. Once she had enough height, the spymaster conjured jets of fire under her feet and soared after the Ice God Slayer. She reached within her coat and withdrew six daggers, golden light seeping out of her eyes and coating each blade. She threw them all towards Weiss, six clones diving for the white-haired girl.

Weiss twirled in midair, using her glyphs to maneuver amidst the clones. She couldn't match a maiden in aerial combat, their elemental arsenal was too diverse, but she didn't sense such limitless power pouring out of the copies. She could use her semblance to defeat the clones and then get back to the ground to handle the original.

"Wait!" Gray gargled, only to keel over as soon as the words left his lips, a gush of blood following. "They… ex…"

Weiss presumed the last part of that word was 'explode'. Unfortunately, she only came to that conclusion after she slashed one down the middle and it promptly did so, a flash of golden light smacking her to the ground.

The five remaining clones landed in a semicircle a ways off from her, their mistress arriving at the peak, her feet firm on the ground. Esper shook her head, as if she was dealing with an unruly child instead of someone trying to smash her skull in.

So why hadn't she ended it? If she really had no desire to fight, why hadn't she used Macro to paralyze her opponent already? Weiss still remembered the feeling of the curse controlling her body back at the Manor, her muscles leaving the command of her mind as she was turned into a puppet on strings she couldn't see. If Esper did that again, she would have no way to counter it. The only reason she wouldn't was if she couldn't. So why… oh.

"Aura," she muttered, staggering to her feet. "At the mansion, my aura was broken, and you played me like a fiddle. But here, you won't even pick up your bow."

Esper shrugged. "Macro is a powerful curse, but it has but one weakness. It can command any body, corpse, or object, but it cannot touch the soul. Or its energy."

"I imagine that must be vexing."

"On the contrary, I find it quite comforting," she revealed. "I can order people all I want, but in the end, their hearts will be with me by their own choice."

Weiss' eyes narrowed. "How cute. In that case, my choice is to send you to hell!"

She opened her mouth, a rush of cold gathering in her maw.

Esper cocked an eyebrow. She took a step off the ice and onto the rocky ground, her clones closing around her. All of their eyes began to shine a brilliant gold, the energy slinking down to their teeth. "Don't be foolish, Weiss. You cannot defeat me alone."

"Who said she was alone?"

Weiss felt the surge of frost arrive next to her and grinned. She turned to her side and found Gray, bloody and beaten, but standing tall, magic culminating together within his jaws. The two of them shared a nod and turned back to their foe. Back to back, skin to skin, they unleashed their wrath.

" **Ice God Bellow!** "

" **Ice Devil Rage!** "

" **Golden Spirit Wail!** "

Two waves erupted across the arena. One, a massive torrent of golden light, blinding to even glimpse. The other, a drilling spiral of black and pink ice, churning about itself as the very air froze in its wake. The two beams clashed, a thunderous _crack_ echoing throughout the coliseum.

If one viewed the situation from a logical perspective, the ice should have lost the clash. The golden wave was formed by six warriors after all, while the frigid blast only had two, even if they could provide more power than most of the light's constituents. However, those who viewed it as such would miss a very crucial detail.

Esper, her clones, their power was added together, stacked atop each other one by one. But for Weiss and Gray, for student and teacher, for two wizards who knew each other's hearts, who understood their family down to their very souls and would do anything to protect them…

" **Magic Fusion: Unison Raid!** "

… that power could be _multiplied_.

The twin breaths of ice rammed straight through the golden light, splintering the shine all over the arena as it barreled across the canyon, blinding all for a brief moment.

When she could see again, Weiss observed the aftermath of their assault. Most of the canyon area had been completely frozen over, the winter hellscape even spreading into the lava zone and freezing several magma rivers solid. Esper was nowhere in sight.

Weiss grinned. "We did it!"

"No," Gray said, suddenly collapsing. Weiss moved to support him, catching him under his arm before he could fall to his knees. "The maiden power… I can still sense it."

Weiss' eyes widened, but as soon as she threw out her own magic senses without being blinded by hope, she found her mentor to be correct. Despite the councilwoman's seeming disappearance, the overflowing font of the Winter Maiden's power was still there, flooding the air with ethernano. But then where was their enemy—

Her eyes locked onto where she had stood before the beam clash. Beneath the layer of ice that had been cast over the area in the wake of the Unison Raid, there was a sizable hole in the rocky ground.

Weiss' gaze shot downward just in time to see the ground beneath her feet, rock and black ice, splinter into dust. Esper shot out of the hole just as the white-haired huntress started to fall into it, held up only by a last-second glyph, Gray tumbling beside her. Not that it mattered, as the spymaster was far too close to counter, two more golden blades ready to strike.

What happened after was a blur. A blur of shining daggers slicing over and over, too fast to counter, and strong enough that each strike felt like she was being cut in half. Weiss tried to fight back, tried move Myrtenaster into her enemy's path to at least buy a second of breath, but even when she was quick enough to get her rapier in her foe's path it was not enough. The blade was too light. One knife battered it aside while the second came in to strike in the same instant.

' _Keep your aura up,'_ Weiss desperately thought to herself. _'Keep your aura up, or she'll take you. Keep your aura up.'_

Alas, despite her chant, she could feel the energy of her soul leaking away with each blow. If the onslaught kept up much longer, she would crumble. And then she'd be Esper's doll once more, her puppet to have dance however she liked.

No. No, no, no, no, no! She would not be controlled! She would not be this witch's plaything, her or Salem!

Just as she once had against Juvia, she let out a feral scream, and her magic that could sunder heaven answered her call.

Spikes and spires of pitch-black ice burst out around her, pure magic power rather than any properly constructed spell. Esper's eyes widened for a moment at the sight of them, but she was able to dance back out of range before she was struck.

Weiss sank to her knees, body exhausted, magic depleted, but aura intact. Her _freedom_ , intact.

And if she wanted to keep it that way, she needed time to regain her breath. Esper seemed more interested in convincing them to stand down than fighting. So why not give her more reasons to talk?

"The Unison Raid," Weiss muttered. "The hole?"

Esper flashed her a prideful smirk, the kind Ruby would show after one of her plans came together, either by design or chance. "What you cannot absorb, you deflect or, in this case, dodge. I am the Gate of the Maiden. I did not choose the canyon field by accident."

"Maiden?" Weiss murmured before her eyes widened. "Virgo!"

"Precisely. Her essence flows through me as surely as Macro does," Esper revealed. Right after, she let out a tired sigh. "Don't think I can't tell what you're doing, getting me talking like this. But I'll take any opportunity to convince you to stop this ridiculous farce. What is it that you actually hope to accomplish here?"

"Beating you to a bloody pulp sounds like a good place to start."

"And then what? Assuming that by some miracle you can defeat me and my allies here, what will happen? I've already selected a suitable successor for the Winter Maiden, so if I die, I just respawn in Hell's Core, having lost nothing. What little time advantage you'll have before I return will be hampered by the news that the accused terrorist and the Specialist Commander who was Ironwood's protégé went against the beloved Council Chairwoman and killed the two Intelligence Agents who saved her during the recent coup attempt." Esper glanced over to where Gray was lumbering to his knees, another clot of blood spilling out of his mouth. "And most importantly, your guildmate will be dead."

Weiss flinched at that last point, her gaze locked on Gray's struggling form. But before her spirit could waver, he met her eyes with his own and shook his head. It prompted a proud smirk on her own face.

"We'll figure something out," she proclaimed. "Once upon a time, I would have needed to know every detail of every step of a plan. I thought that I couldn't trust others, that I was the only one qualified to make designs in the world. But that was childish. I've learned since then, grown from that scared little girl. I don't need to know how I'm going to fight, not as long as I know what I'm fighting for! I have faith in my guildmates and in myself! No matter how much you beat us down, we will find a way to kick your ass, just like Fairy Tail always does!"

Surprisingly, a small smile blossomed across Esper's face. "There it is. That fiery spark of hope, untempered and unquenchable. To draw strength and will from hope is undoubtedly mankind's greatest attribute, one that Fairy Tail excels in to the utmost. It is a beautiful thing, capable of shattering the boundaries of what some might call impossible."

The smile fell, replaced by a resigned expression of melancholy. "But some things _are_ impossible. And that same hope will never acknowledge that fact, sending simple souls and all who'd follow them to their deaths again and again. To prevent such a tragedy, to truly challenge the way of the world, one must be able to understand where their previous approach was flawed. Their faith, their hope, must be tempered by despair. Years ago, the Queen educated me on the subject. Allow me to perform the same service for you."

"You can try," Weiss challenged.

Esper sighed. " _Macro_."

Weiss' eyes widened. Had she been wrong? Had her enemy lied to her? Was aura not a barrier to the curse? She twisted her arm, just to see if she still could. When the limb responded to her command, she breathed a sigh of relief.

It was premature.

" _Release restraint,_ " Esper declared, a hum of power layering her voice as her body began to glow. " **Eclipse Etherious Form.** "

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

Fighting the Tremaines two against one had not been fun. With the glow of the lava casting plenty of shadows for Drizzella to sneak in and out of, and her presence giving Eleanor time to recover her stamina, Winter had fallen onto the back foot of the battle. She bobbed and weaved through her glyphs, dodging bullets and Lucifer in equal measure, working to get an opening to summon something and even up the odds. Alas, she was up against two veteran huntresses, both of whom had studied her and one of whom knew her style intimately. They knew not to give her any time to react and bit by bit she was worn down.

Then the ceiling of Amity had shattered, and Weiss arrived with some very impressive backup. Her sister had gone to help her guildmate, but her ally had flown to assist Winter.

Fighting the Tremaines two against two when her partner was an overly chipper war machine? Now, that was quite fun.

"Penny Polendina, stand down!" Eleanor commanded, jumping back as another laser blast nearly sheared her head off. Lucifer lunged for the robot girl, but she jetted to the ground and wrenched her blades through the volcanic ground, tearing enough ash and dirt that the fire beast had to retreat for fear of being smothered. "You are attacking Atlas government personal!"

"My father informed me that the Atlas government was compromised, Special Agent Tremaine," Penny replied, a hard edge to her pleasant voice. "Since you are aiding one registering curse energy, I can only assume—"

Her voice paused as a shockwave ripped across the arena, the entire coliseum shuddering in its wake. For a moment, all the combatants froze, even Eleanor and Drizzella looking towards the wizards' duel as a hurricane began to form.

"Well," Eleanor frowned. "Even if you two wish to continue this fight, I recommend we vacate the area. Otherwise, we won't be alive to squabble."

Winter cocked an eyebrow at that statement, but a sinking pit began to form in her stomach when she saw Drizzella's face pale and her entire form sink into shadows. Eleanor herself dashed away immediately afterward, and that could only mean trouble.

"Penny," she muttered. "What's happening?"

"Magical energy levels rising. Curse energy levels rising. Density of power is…" the robot girl's eyes widened. She snatched Winter up in her arms and flew off into the air.

The Specialist might have inquired what she was doing if she hadn't then been buffeted by a gale-force wind. Her eyes shot towards the source and her voice caught in her throat.

It was Esper, or at least she thought it was. The demure but deadly huntress had been replaced by a woman with dark, craggy skin covered in intricate black tattoos, her Intelligence uniform split down the front and serving as a cape rather than a jacket. A pair of golden horns stuck out from the top of her head, while an extra pair of arms protruded from midway down her chest, well-toned with shackles linked with broken chains around each wrist. She rose into the heavens as a furious typhoon roared around her, the maiden's sapphire glow surrounding her eyelids. And when she opened her eyes, their golden shine was pure yellow, piercing through the racing air like demonic searchlights.

Gigantic chunks of broken rock floated into the sky around her, either from the wind or at the command of her Macro, circling around the hellish spirit. Yellow light leaked from her solid eyes and coated each of the boulders, the ground's offering to the fallen angel it was bound to obey.

If not for Penny's action, Winter would have stayed still and gawked, unable to tear her eyes away from the sheer _power_ in front of her. Fortunately, the robot girl was able to keep her wits about her and flew the both of them down to Weiss and Gray.

Both ice wizards were near-naked, on their knees, and covered in wounds, bruises and welts for Weiss and a myriad of lacerations for Gray. A dribble of blood coated the Devil's Slayers chin, his black markings slowly receding up his arm.

Winter and Penny landed and the Specialist rushed to her sister's side, gripping her shoulder and tugging her to her feet.

"Please tell me you backed her into a corner and forced her to do…" Winter glanced fearfully up at what her old mentor had become, "… that."

Weiss gulped. "We haven't put a scratch on her."

Up above, over the howling of the wind and the specter of the golden boulder storm orbiting at the ready, a soft chuckle somehow reached their ears.

"Now, do you understand?" Esper called, her voice tinged with an echoing timbre. "This is the power of a Gate of the Queen. The power necessary to put an end to our true enemies. The power that can be yours, Weiss. Yours and all mankind's."

She smiled like a guardian angel and reached down with the two hands on one side as if to pull them up to heaven. "All you need do is come. Come with me, and we shall change the world to paradise."

" **Ice-Make Silver**."

Winter felt like the entire left side of her body suddenly got frostbite through her aura. At the same time, an utterly gargantuan glacier materialized and completely covered Esper and her boulder storm. Both Schnee sisters whirled around to Gray, frost fading from his fingers as his demonic tattoo faded completely.

"Run," he whispered, swaying on his knees.

The ice user slammed into the ground; eyes closed. Weiss made to rush to his side, but Penny got there first, scooping up the unconscious wizard into her arms.

"We need to go," Penny commanded. "This enemy is beyond any of us."

A pair of lightning bolts crashed down and obliterated the top half of the glacier, the tornado completely unencumbered by the ice prison. Winter couldn't help but think Penny understated the danger they were in.

The group whirled around and made a break for the nearest exit, Penny unleashing a pair of lasers to melt through the steel door. Winter and Weiss both conjured glyphs beneath all three huntresses, accelerating them all as fast as humanly possible. They needed it, as they only just reached the tunnel to freedom when the glacier behind them exploded, gigantic chunks of ice and golden rock crashing down around them. Explosions echoed throughout Amity, all cold burned away as an inferno closed in on them from behind, a four-armed, golden-eyed demon at its head.

By some miracle, perhaps the storm of rubble had impeded Esper's progress, they made it outside, though the raging hurricane winds confirmed them were far from out of danger. The clouds rumbled with electric wrath, ready to be unleashed at their mistress' command.

Penny led them into one of the docked bullheads and strapped Gray down in the passenger's seat before hopping into the pilot's chair and flicking through several system startups.

"Can you fly a bullhead?" Weiss asked.

"I am programmed to be able to pilot any Atlas craft," Penny assured her. The airship's engine hummed, but Winter couldn't rid herself of the pit in her stomach. There was a very large difference between being programmed to fly a bullhead and being able to fly it through a maiden's wrath. And that was assuming they got the ship in the air…

Winter immediately realized they wouldn't. She heard the rush of flames bursting out of the coliseum before she turned to see Esper flying over the dockyard, her face displeased but calm as she rocketed towards them. The Gate began to raise her right hands.

Lightning to shoot them down, Macro to command the ship, or perhaps some other magic or curse she'd pull out of her ass, it didn't matter. If Esper raised her hand, if she was given a moment to concentrate, they were lost. They would never escape.

At least, not all of them.

She pulled Weiss into a tight embrace, her little sister letting out a short squeak of shock. It wasn't surprising. Winter had always loved her siblings, but she'd never been particularly good at being their elder. Always off doing her duty, always so short on praise, always trying to clamp down on her emotions so that she could perform as a huntress should. Always unsure what to say to help them carve their own path without making them vulnerable to how harsh the world could be. Now, she knew what she wanted to say, knew a million things she wanted to say… and had not near the time to say any of them.

So, she settled for what she should have said more often.

"I love you, little sister."

"What? Winter—" Weiss' eyes widened. "Winter, no!"

The Specialist Commander shoved her sibling deeper into the ship, a gravity glyph she'd set up during the hug sticking her there for a crucial few seconds. Winter turned and, with every speed glyph she could muster, blasted out of the ship. She streaked through the sky and slammed into Esper, her twin swords smashing into her former teacher's hands and swatting them low.

She'd like to have been able to say it was an epic duel, the lone heroic huntress going blow for blow with the vile demon for hours on end, the shattered moon bearing witness to their clash for seven days and seven nights. Alas, such stories were fit only for fables.

In only a few blows, Esper had sent her tumbling across the dockyard, her aura shattered to pieces. She made to rise again, unwilling to let such an insignificant detail prevent her from protecting her sister, but the Gate froze her with a stare.

" _Stop_ ," she ordered, the eminence of her curse filling her voice.

Just like that, Winter's muscles froze up, her body unable to resist the monster's command.

But her efforts had not been in vain. She had not done any significant damage, but her tenacity, like a fly endlessly circling a great cat, had distracted her foe for the crucial time she'd needed. The bullhead had used the duration of her efforts to take off and soar away, dodging and dancing through gale-force winds and crashing thunder until they were out of their enemy's range.

Esper watched the craft make for the horizon and sighed. The maiden's power faded from her eyes and her body reverted to its normal, two-handed form. She glanced at Winter and shook her head. "Winter, your magnificence is a joy to behold, yet singularly frustrating."

Unsure if she had just been complimented or insulted, the eldest Schnee merely snarled at her. For all that the spymaster had deceived and manipulated her, for all she had sunk her claws into her brother, she would never lay a finger on her sister. Not as long as Winter lived.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

"Go back! We have to go back!"

Penny's hands tightened on the controls, making no motion to do so. "We cannot."

"We have to!" Weiss shouted, finally breaking free of the gravity glyph and rounding on her friend. "We can't just leave her! I won't leave her!"

"If Madam Rosenflos meant to kill us, she would have done so immediately upon entering her Etherious form," Penny pointed out. "She will take Commander Schnee alive."

Inwardly, Weiss shuddered, the memory of that form, that… monster, filling her memory. The sheer power Esper had put out, it had been more massive than anything she'd ever felt before, more than Erza, more than Master Makarov, even more than Kyoka. Only Sitara compared, and she'd never seen her do something that terrifying.

That was a Gate. That was what one of Salem's elites was capable of, so incomprehensibly powerful that a maiden's limitless magic was but a mere portion of their strength.

Still, as much as her mind was screaming at her to listen to Penny and just _run_ while they still could, like she should have done the night Gray had met up with her at the gala, she found herself hesitating. Maybe it was her pride, maybe it was the Fairy Tail spirit imbued in her to never leave anyone behind no matter how powerful the enemy…

And maybe it was because Esper's schemes had taken her mother, her butler, her kingdom, and reputation, and she _refused to lose her big sister too_.

"Go back," she repeated, running completely on emotion as tears flooded down her face. "Go back now."

Penny remained firm. When Weiss opened her mouth to demand again, the robot girl pointed to Gray in the opposite seat.

"He has been infected with Bane Particles," she reminded her. "My scanners indicate that he has decreased his blood content to dangerously low levels to thin their density. If he does not receive a transfusion soon, he _will_ die."

"What?" Weiss gasped. "How… how do we save him? We can't stop at a hospital, Esper is bound to be after us!"

"This ship should be equipped with an emergency medical kit. It will be dangerous, but my father programmed me for all combat eventualities, including medical procedures," Penny revealed, though she cringed right after. "Unfortunately, I do not possess blood to donate."

Weiss clenched her fists. "I don't know if my blood type is a match."

"It's all we have. He'll die if it's wrong, but he'll die for sure if we don't try."

And if she was discombobulated from giving blood, there was no way she'd be able to return to save Winter. She had to choose between trying to save her sister or her teacher. One or the other, and she knew exactly which one her sister would demand she choose.

She lugged Gray over her shoulder. She set him on the floor of the bullhead and began rifling through the ship's compartment for the med kit. Before long, she found it and opened the red and white crate, pulling out the various plastic tubes and syringes that she guessed would be needed for the procedure.

"I need to give the autopilot a heading before I step away," Penny said. "Where can we go?"

"Vale," Weiss replied, brushing a wave of tears from her eyes. "Patch. Set a course for Patch."

It was their only chance. All of Atlas would be after their heads. With the CCT down, Vale wouldn't know about their criminal status for quite a while. Hell, given their current temperamental relations with Atlas, they might not even care when they did.

But also, Patch was where her team was, her guildmates. It was where she should have gone months ago. But Esper had known exactly how to draw her in and because of her ambition, her blood family were dead, captured, or thought she was a terrorist, and her kingdom was in the hands of an agent of Salem.

The ship stabilized and Penny walked over to begin the transfusion. Meanwhile, dark thoughts swirled through Weiss' mind, thoughts that should never have touched the heart of a Fairy Tail wizard. And yet, kneeling over Gray's barely breathing body, she could see no other course, no other way to grant justice to all those she had failed.

"I'll kill her," she whimpered through her sobs, Penny kneeling beside her. "I'll kill her."

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

" _Breaking News! Terrorist Escapes! Treachery Uncovered! Chairwoman Rosenflos saves the kingdom!"_

" _After surviving a coup attempt by General Ironwood and the Specialist Corps and assuming emergency powers just days ago, Council Chairwoman Esper Rosenflos began a unified manhunt for arch-traitor Gretel Rainart, also known as COMMAND ESR, former head of Atlas Intelligence. After discovering that the villain's next scheme was to free the accused terrorist Weiss Schnee from Glacial Cliffs Military Prison, Madam Rosenflos immediately acted with loyal Intelligence Agents Eleanor and Drizzella Tremaine, the former now head of the agency, to put a stop to the deadly scheme. However, there was still more treachery to come, as Winter Schnee, former commander of the Specialist Corps and protégé of James Ironwood, forsook her uniform to assist in her sister's jailbreak."_

" _But no amount of treachery and deceit could defeat true Atlesian grit and ingenuity! After a long and brutal clash, Madam Rosenflos emerged victorious, capturing Winter Schnee and executing Rainart. Weiss Schnee escaped however, with the aid of traitorous Intelligence Agent Gray Fullbuster and a military android stolen from Dr. Pietro Polendina's laboratory after his murder. All citizens are implored to contact authorities with any information on their whereabouts."_

" _As the murderer is still at large, Madam Rosenflos has deemed it necessary to maintain emergency powers for the safety of the kingdom. The emergency elections to fill the vacant council seats shall be held this week, as well as the unveiling of Madam Rosenflos' new amendments to ensure the continued protection of all citizens and a safe and secure society..."_

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

Robyn once thought the day she would be publicly invited to the Pearl Office would be the proudest day of her life. But with the recent events that had torn through the kingdom, she found herself filled with trepidation, the shining opinion she had once held for the office's holder now tinged with doubt.

As the Atlesian Knight guarding the entrance opened the door, she heard a pair of voices, one familiar and one young, chatting amiably, though the subject matter seemed far from casual.

"Things have gone over well with the board," the younger one said. "Thanks to your assistance, I have taken my rightful place."

"You took it on your own," the familiar voice, Esper, commented. "You've been through far more than anyone should ever have to, Whitley and you've come out a great man. I am… truly sorry, for my part in putting you in harm's way."

The boy, Whitley, waved her off. "It's not your fault. How could you have known that Weiss was such a King Taijitu? I didn't even think she'd go that far. But I have no illusions that I would have had even a chance of surviving that day if it weren't for you, Madam Citizen. Atlas is changing, for the better. And I promise you, the SDC will support your reign one hundred percent."

Esper flashed her old assistant a smile, though it was tinged with more melancholy than the leader of the Happy Huntresses was used to seeing from her. She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Thank you, my boy. I promise, I will do everything in my power to live up to that faith."

"I know you will," the Schnee boy smiled, snatching up a cookie from his old boss' desk and chomping a chunk off. "But perhaps we shouldn't keep Ms. Hill waiting?"

"Huh?" Esper's eyes widened and she turned to smile. "Robyn! I'm so sorry, I didn't expect this meeting to run long."

"It's fine," Robyn said. "I suppose the Queen of Atlas is allowed to be waited on."

Esper sighed. "Just the First Citizen. That's all the vote was for."

Robyn frowned. "I've read the amendments to the constitution. If it looks like a monarch, acts like a monarch, and wields the power of a monarch, I call it like it is."

Esper shook her head. "After everything that's happened over the last few months, can you really say having the military be completely subordinate to civilian authority is a _bad idea_?"

"I'd prefer having it be subordinate to elected authority."

"I was elected. The people cast their votes and made me First Citizen for life. Just as they may cast their votes to put you on the council next week."

"A council that's now confined to legislative duties," Robyn pointed out. "Which you still get the final say on. That's not very democratic."

Whitley scoffed, taking another bite out of his cookie. "The people spent months nearly starving to death because of democracy. Why anyone would be attached to such a flawed political system, _forced_ on the other kingdoms by Vale at the end of the Great War, is beyond me."

"It's done pretty well over the last few decades," Robyn snipped, only kept from nicknaming the kid out of empathy for what he'd recently gone through.

"Yes, the Treaty of Vytal has done quite well," Whitley sneered. "At making Vacuo a corrupt hive of scum and villainy, Mistral the same thing but racist and with a better paint job, Vale a bunch of complacent isolationists, and enabling Atlas and Mantle to gain the largest wealth disparity on the planet."

Robyn scowled, but could only sigh at the boy's points. "It's not perfect. But it's better than dictatorship."

"In certain aspects, you are correct," Esper conceded, her friendly smile never falling from her lips. "But not in others. A democratic system is, even at the best of times, a liability to a swift response. With the Grimm, that is already a grievous weakness, but in our current time of crisis, it is one we cannot afford if we hope to do any good for our people. Which is actually what I wanted to speak with you about."

Robyn rolled her eyes. "Let me guess. You want me to not make any noise and not run for the council."

"Half right. I can't have you running for the council if you're going to be my governor of Mantle, but I'd prefer if you made a great deal of noise in the role."

The huntress' brain staggered to a halt. "What?"

Esper chuckled. "I have big plans to help this kingdom, but I have no illusions about the demands of my role. As First Citizen, I have to focus on big picture matters, and in the big picture, good people can sometimes fall through the cracks. And since Mantle has been left one huge gaping crack even before James' embargo, a great many people are vulnerable. But you, you care about them. You've lived among them; you know what they've suffered. And I believe that you can help them heal and make Mantle a district that can rival even the city in the sky."

Robyn couldn't keep herself from gaping. "Wh… wha… what would I be able to do with this position?"

"Anything," Esper revealed. "Or, almost. My governors' authority in their areas of control will be second only to my own, able to enact whatever policies or provisions that see as necessary to preserve public safety and improve the standard of living."

"The SDC will also be happy to work with all you on repairing Mantle's economic state," Whitley chimed in. "My father's cutthroat policies have left too many people helpless for too long. It is long past time we returned to our roots as a company of the kingdom and the people."

Robyn's eyes widened, before her face rested on an expression of sympathy. "Mr. Schnee… Whitley… I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thank you, Ms. Hill," the boy replied. "Rest assured, as long as I live, Mr. Sieben's family will never go hungry."

"Oh," Robyn said. "That's very generous of you, but I was referring to—"

"My mother's ashes have been buried in the family crypt as she is due. I did not think my father would want me to waste time on such sentiment for him," Whitley explained. His fists clenched at his sides. "And I have no sisters."

"… fair enough."

Robyn had heard more than enough horror stories from May about what upper-class Atlesian families inflicted on their children. Given that Whitley had been through the wringer even by those standards, she supposed she had no right to judge.

"So, the governorship," Esper grinned. "What's your answer?"

Wasn't that a quandary? Robyn believed in democracy. She believed in the will of the people. It was part of the reason she had fought to ensure the voice of Mantle was heard, that the rich and powerful of Atlas didn't exploit her home into the dust. And when she couldn't do that through entirely legal means, she'd been more than willing to bend the rules in order to help as many as she could.

And yet, even if she had succeeded in being elected to the council, she would still only have been one voice among four, still have had to contend with the rich and powerful stifling every motion she put forward to help her home. Now, she was being offered the opportunity to do whatever she felt was necessary to bring prosperity to her people, with the government and the most powerful company on Remnant at her back. If only she turned her back on those democratic ideals she held so dear.

Well… she was no stranger to bending rules to get results.

If she turned down the position, Esper was just going to fill it with somebody else, someone who might exploit her people for their own benefit. If she took it, she would have the power to do some real good, more good than Mantle had seen in decades. If she turned down the post just to take a shot at the council seat, a post with less authority, what would the people who believed in her think?

"Alright, your majesty," she said. "I'm in."

"Excellent!" Esper cheered, clasping their hands together. "Welcome to the team!"

"Glad to be here," Robyn replied, squeezing the other woman's hand tight. " _Were you behind the Schnee Manor bombing?_ "

"What?!" Whitley yelled. "How dare you—"

Esper raised a hand and her protégé stood down. She glanced down at their arms, where Robyn's semblance was flowing and active. "It's alright, Whitley. Recent events can be viewed quite suspiciously from certain points of view. Robyn just wants to make sure she isn't selling her soul to the devil. It's a wise precaution."

"Thank you," the Happy Huntress replied. "Your answer?"

"No," Esper said.

Robyn's aura glowed green. She was telling the truth.

The blonde was no less suspicious. "Why have you taken full control of the government? Is it for yourself? For power?"

"Ugh, gods no," Esper gagged. "I hate this job. I hate ruling. If I could do whatever I wanted, I'd run back to family and make up for lost time with my children."

Still green. Still true.

Yet, Robyn couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "If you hate ruling, then why make yourself a dictator in all but name?"

"For the same reason I told you months ago. For the people," Esper responded. "The decisions made in this government decide who lives and who dies. And with the Grimm at our gates and negativity at an all-time high after recent events, there is no one more qualified to put the people's minds at ease and lead our kingdom, and with any luck, all kingdoms, into a new era of unity. One that will hopefully, in time, see the Grimm rendered a nonthreat."

"You plan to destroy the Grimm? That's impossible."

"At the moment. I am working on a solution."

Robyn's aura remained green. Another truth. An utterly insane truth.

"Are you satisfied, Governor Hill?" Whitley challenged. "Or must we continue this asinine train of thought?"

"No, I'm alright," Robyn said, removing her hand. "My apologies for being so blunt, Madam Citizen."

"It's no trouble at all. I'm glad you're so determined to ensure you're on the right path. It lets me know I can trust your judgment, governor," Esper smiled. "In fact, I was wondering if I could enlist your help in settling a security issue."

"Security?"

"She means us."

Robyn whirled around to the office door. Clover and Marrow were escorted in by uniformed Intelligence agents, their hands tied in front of them in gravity dust bolos. The dog faunus glanced warily at the spies' weapons, but Clover managed to hide his discomfort much better. He even managed a small wave at the new governor.

"Good to see you, Robyn," the Specialist greeted, trying his best to be friendly. "Guess you've finally joined the team, huh?"

"Yeah," the Happy Huntress replied, trying not to show her awkwardness at his 'escort'. "Ironic, I suppose."

"I want to say right now that I have full faith in you, Specialist Ebi, Specialist Amin," Esper informed them. "However, I also had full faith in Winter, and look where that has led us. I can no longer take chances with those I put in control of the people's safety."

"We understand, Madam Chairwoman—I mean, Madam Citizen," Marrow said. "But we didn't have anything to do with what happened at the council meeting."

"You mean the coup attempt that killed Councilman Sleet?" Whitley challenged. "The coup attempt that your teammates took part in, along with most of your entire corps?"

Marrow shrunk back, admonished. Clover stepped in front of his teammate, like the good leader he was. "We don't know what the others were thinking. Or what the general was thinking when he did what he did."

"A likely story," Whitley scoffed.

"It is," Esper said, more sincere than her pupil. She placed a hand on Whitley's shoulder. Within a few moments, the boy sighed, and his disdainful expression disappeared. The First Citizen turned back to the Ace Ops. "One way or another, Governor Hill's semblance will let us know the truth of the matter. If you are innocent, I will gladly reinstate the both of you. Though, I believe Specialist Amin may be needed in another position."

"What?" Marrow gasped.

Robyn's eyes narrowed. "What exactly do you mean, Madam Citizen?"

The Ace Ops were the most prestigious unit in Atlas. Their reputation may have taken a massive hit given their involvement in the coup attempt, but if Clover and Marrow were cleared of all charges, transferring the one faunus in the group would be a major backtrack in the racial politics of the kingdom, and Robyn would not allow innocent people to be oppressed because Esper wanted to curry favor with elitists—"

"Headmaster of Atlas Academy."

… oh.

Oh!

Nevermind. That wouldn't curry any favor with the kingdom's elite. But it was a _very big_ step in the right direction.

Marrow's eyes widened. "You want me to be… to run…"

"If you are loyal, then I can think of no better person to train the next generation of humanity's defenders than an Ace Op," Esper smiled.

"Right! And I am, ma'am. Loyal, I mean."

"I do hope so." Esper nodded to Robyn. "Governor, if you would."

Robyn stepped forward, extending her hand towards Clover. Despite having been teammates at Atlas Academy, the two of them had never seen completely eye-to-eye. He believed that the stability of a system was paramount while she believed that a huntress had to work outside of one in order to help those a chain of command could not. That ideological difference hadn't exactly made them best friends.

Still the thing about rivals was that, in your own way, you knew each other better than anyone. And for that reason, she believed that Clover might have gone along with Ironwood if the general had brought him in on the coup. But she also believed he would have owned up to it if he had.

One way or the other, they'd find out soon enough.

" _Were you involved in Ironwood's coup attempt?"_

"No. The general never mentioned it to me before. I had no idea it was going to happen."

Her aura flashed green. He was telling the truth. That brought a small smile to Robyn's lips.

"Release him," she commanded the guards.

The Intelligence Agents looked to Esper, who nodded. Instantly, Clover's shackles were removed, as were Marrow's once the process was repeated with him. After that, the First Citizen dismissed the Intelligence Agents and gathered the rest of them around her desk. She flicked on a hologram projector, an image of Amity Coliseum appearing before them. But it was slightly different from the last time Robyn had seen it.

"Specialist Ebi, I found this in General Ironwood's files. Would you like to explain to everyone what James' full intentions were regarding this project?"

Clover flinched, but he was a soldier. And his new superior had just given him an order. He revealed everything: Amity Tower, the Relic of Creation, as well as General Ironwood's secret war against Salem. Robyn was half tempted to have him say everything again with her semblance watching.

Esper merely narrowed her eyes. "That lines up with what Winter told me and COMMAND ESR raining down nature's wrath during our fight." She glanced to Whitley. "Can the SDC supply the necessary materials to complete the tower without compromising Mantle?"

"We've got a massive stockpile from the embargo," the Schnee boy replied. "We can supply it at-cost if necessary."

"Excellent," Esper said. "Though, I don't know if I believe there's some ancient evil leading the Grimm. I can't imagine we'd have lasted this long if there was."

"Madam Citizen, I assure you, Salem is very real," Clover insisted. "She was behind the Fall of Beacon."

Robyn raised an eyebrow. "I thought that was the White Fang?"

"Of course it was," Whitley sneered. "Only those animals would sink so low as to attack a huntsman academy. And if there is some ancient Grimm involved, I wouldn't be surprised if they worked with her."

Marrow's eyes narrowed. "Animals?"

Whitley sighed. "Because they're terrorists, not because they're faunus. I apologize for any offence, Headmaster Amin. I assure you, there was none intended."

"Enough," Esper called, all four of her subordinates falling silent. "Clover, have you seen this Salem? Have you seen any proof of her existence? Or do you only have James' word to go off?"

"Well, the latter," Clover confessed. "But everything else he said was true. The maidens, the Relics…"

"He also starved half the kingdom, and turned the council chambers into a shooting gallery," Whitley pointed out. "The man was hardly the picture of sanity."

Clover looked around the table for support, but even Marrow glanced away from him, nervously rubbing the back of his head. The leader of the Ace Ops finally arrived at Robyn, but she could only give him a shrug. She'd never been close with her former headmaster, but it didn't take a genius to see that he'd been quite paranoid, the fact that some of the threats he'd feared had been real didn't change that. What's to say he hadn't lied to the Ace Ops about this 'Salem' just so they'd follow him into the gates of hell? It had certainly worked with Harriet, Elm, and Vine.

Esper turned off the hologram of Amity Tower. "Regardless of whether the general was telling the truth or not, he was right about one thing. Reestablishing global communications is imperative. The coming months will be trying. I imagine the other kingdoms will disturbed by our government's changes. It will be our job to reassure them that they have nothing to fear. And I will rely on all of you to help me do that."

Whitley preened at the First Citizen's words, and Robyn would confess that they did rekindle a bit of her former confidence in Esper. But still, she glanced around the circle, saw Clover and Marrow saluting smartly, and couldn't help but wonder if things would have looked any different had Ironwood's coup succeeded.

No, if that had happened, she would still have been robbing trucks, supplying soup kitchens so that a few more people might get a meal before she trudged back to the bridges they slept under. Now, she would be able to make sure that her home would never go hungry again, that her people would homes to house their families and job to provide for them with. However her benefactor had come by her power, the good she could was real.

She hadn't been able to stand by and do nothing as a huntress. This was no different.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

Watts clapped slowly upon entering the Pearl Office through the secret passage built behind the wall. All the pawns had left a minute ago, leaving only the Black Queen as the lights dimmed in Atlas' highest office.

"Well, I suppose it was a good thing that I took the failsafe out of your hands," he noted with no lack of humor. "Hill's semblance would have found you out if you'd known it was going to happen."

"If you're hoping for a pat on the back Arthur, you'll be waiting until you've pushed through Cinder's adoption papers," Esper chided him, her gaze locked on the kingdom's skyline. "I should be able to pin your reputation's downfall on James. How soon will you be able to complete the modifications to Amity Tower once you're reinstated?"

"Not too long," Watts replied. "I'll be splitting my efforts between that and the backup Hell's Core, so both will be delayed."

"Focus on the tower," she commanded. "Hell's Core is under the Queen's guard and the books are safely stored where no one can reach them. I hope that the other kingdoms will join us peacefully, but if war does break out, I want it ended swiftly and decisively. If one cannot rule by swaying the people's hearts, then better to rule by fear of force rather than force itself. Fewer lives will be lost that way."

"Indeed, we should make use of every potential weapon at our disposal," Watts agreed. "And despite his lesser capacity, I have found some of Pietro's work to be quite intriguing. To take the aura of one and transfer it into a loyal drone. I wouldn't have expected him to be so diabolical, even if his sentimentality led him to use it on himself instead of someone with a more… useful semblance. It is quite fortunate you took the girl alive—"

" _Stay solid."_

"Wha—ah!"

Watts howled in surprise, Esper's hand closing around his throat and smashing him over the desk. He tried to dissipate into Bane Particles, but he hadn't had his aura up and Macro's command held firm.

"You will not be laying a finger on Winter," Esper growled. "Whether the failsafe was necessary or not, it cost an innocent woman her life because you were careless."

"Oh, like the butler wasn't already in your line of sight—ah!" Watts choked, the other Gate's grip tightening.

"We do what we must, but _no more_. We do not murder innocents because it is easier or because we don't care, only because it is necessary," Esper glared. "If you go behind my back again, I will send you back to Hell's Core the hard way. Am I understood?"

"Cry… crystal…" Watts gurgled.

Esper held him there for a few more seconds, enough that he had to wonder if she was going to follow through on her threat. He knew in theory they could all recover from death and just be rebuilt in Hell's Core, but that didn't mean he was eager to test that theory. He doubted it'd be a pleasant experience either way.

Still, the Gate of the Maiden wasn't one to kill family, even a member she didn't actually like. She wrenched him up and tossed him to the ground. The good doctor sputtered as he rose to his feet, but even if he had any chance at retaliation, it was lost the moment Esper turned away from him and fell to one knee. He spotted the Seer Grimm that had floated in from the office's secret passage and followed suit.

"Report," Salem's voice spoke from the creature's depths.

"It is done, your grace," Esper replied. "Atlas is yours."

"And the Staff?"

Watts cringed. "Regrettably, it seems your suspicion was correct, ma'am. Removing the Relic would cause the city to fall from the sky."

Salem growled. "Ozpin and his schemes. For now, leave it there. We control access to the Vault and all that lies within, and for now, the kingdom is more useful to us. We can afford to let the Staff rest a little longer."

"I will have Robyn and Whitley begin redistributing Mantle outside of the area of impact," Esper said. "When the time comes, we can use the Staff to control the city's descent."

"Good. If it falls as it is, it will be like a meteor struck the planet," Salem's brow furrowed. "But I sense something is troubling you, my friend. Speak."

Esper bowed her head lower. "Forgive me, my queen. I have failed you. Weiss and Gray were my responsibility and I allowed them to slip through my fingers."

Watts raised an eyebrow but didn't speak up. Once again, he was reminded about the kind of person the Gate of the Maiden was. She didn't like him and could more than reasonably lay the Schnee girl's escape at his feet (though it was clearly the fault of Pietro's infernal toy!), but in her mind, his failures were her failures. She was the leader of the mission, and no matter if he went behind her back, no matter how she disciplined him, what happened was still her responsibility.

It was a mindset he found quite respectable, despite its inherent weaknesses. Besides, if she was going to act as a lightning rod for the Queen's wrath instead of him, he wasn't going to complain.

Through the Seer, Salem scowled. "Yes. That is unfortunate."

"I will accept any punishment you deem fit."

"Punishment?" A warm chuckle echoed out from the Grimm, inviting and reassuring, not at all the cold judgment that Watts had anticipated. Indeed, when he looked up, there was a smile on the Queen's face.

"My friend, your failure occurred in honest effort. Weiss and Gray will come to us, it is only a matter of time," she assured her. "And your failure does not erase your successes. Look at all you have accomplished! The greatest kingdom on Remnant now willingly champions our cause."

Despite the Queen's words, the Gate of the Maiden could not bring herself to raise her head in pride. "I should have been better."

Salem sighed, shaking her head. "You are too hard on yourself. You have done well, my dear COMMAND ESR. My dear Etherious Summer Rose."

* * *

 **Full disclosure. This chapter, the final scene especially, was one of the biggest 'moments' in my head that got me really excited to write this story. And overall, I am really happy with how it turned out. I've always loved Magnificent Bastard characters and I hope I've created one that is at the very least interesting and engaging, if not unpredictable (I really need to get better at not making my foreshadowing so blatant). Summer is Cinder's 'Teacher' and as powerful as that and being the Gate of the Maiden/Winter Maiden implies. But as would be expected from Ruby's mother, what makes her as dangerous as she is are her conviction and her plans. She can't control everything, Weiss, Gray, and even Watts threw a few wrenches in her Atlas strategy without even knowing who she was just by being themselves, but like her daughter, she is exceptionally good at improvising what she has on the fly, working those complications into her plan to achieve her overall goal.**

 **Essentially, Salem is the player. Summer is the Black Queen.**

 **An extra huge thank you to my patrons: ArcherMcMuffin, Gregg Tracton, Keith Traction, Annaya Chan, Nora Okonus, Paula mandel, KefkaesqueXIII, Christian Howard, SanyaBane, Matthew Blevins, and David Wayman.**

 **Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!**

 **Go Forth and Conquer!**


	34. Chapter 33

**Hello there! Important message time.**

 **So, since 2020 began my life has gone through a number of tumultuous events that have forced me to reexamine my trajectory in life. For those of you who don't know, my chosen path is that of a writer, screenwriter specifically. And for one to even have a chance in that business, they need to produce a portfolio of original work. I have created some work, but I need to create more and fine-tune the ones I have. That, in addition to the rigors of college, has forced me to reexamine just how much time I've been putting into fanfiction. It is time I believe well spent and will continue to spend, but I must reallocate my efforts if I am to have any hope of creating a successful career. I do not intend to stop writing fanfiction, I started all my stories because I want to tell them and I intend to finish them. By some changes are necessary.**

 **1\. I will be freezing my Pat reon. To those of you who don't know, this means that the page itself will stay up and all the Teasers Chapters and Story Ideas will still be available to Patrons, but there will be no monthly payout. If my schedule is to be as mercurial and inconsistent as I expect it to be in the future, it would be unfair and irresponsible to have money involved in the equation in any manner. I will create and post the February Teaser Chapter, but after that I will likely not be active there.**

 **2\. The monthly poll stories of 'The Third Faction' and 'One to Find All' will change to a joint bi-monthly drop. This has been brewing for a while as it has become apparent that my beta for Third Faction Draconic and I simply need more than one month to produce a chapter of that story. In this manner, if all goes as planned, I will spend one month writing Third Faction, then I will send that chapter to Draconic and he will spend the next month beta-ing it while I write One to Find All, and then both stories will have their chapters posted when ready that month (Feb., April, June, etc.)**

 **3\. I will do my best to keep to my update schedule, but as mentioned in Point 1, I am doing this so that I have time to work on my original projects. Due to school, family, or those projects, it is entirely plausible that circumstances may end up causing chapters to be late, sometimes by longer periods. I will do my best to avoid such occasions, but I cannot make any promises.**

 **All this said, I must repeat: I have NO intention of leaving any of my stories unfinished. I tell these stories because I want to tell them. They make me happy and knowing they are enjoyed by all of you just makes it even better. For Reading, I cannot thank you enough.**

 **Now then, on with the chapter.**

* * *

"Well, I must say, I'm impressed," Sienna confessed. "I didn't think you could do it."

Hazel chuckled, his enormous frame seated in one of the crimson armchairs of her office in the White Fang's headquarters. "I don't blame you. Only our best could have handled it."

"Aw, always a charmer, aren't you Hazel," the voice emanating from the first of the two Seer Grimm, the voice of _Esper Rosenflos_ , cooed. "I'm just glad we were able to make sure Gretel didn't die in vain."

The towering human's face fell, but he still managed a melancholy smile. "Yes, her and Gretchen both. Thank you, Summer."

"I do what I can, old friend."

"And you have done exceptionally well, my dear," the voice within the second Seer said, a darker voice that made Sienna's fur stand on end yet also steadied her heartbeat at the same time. Though the fur was far more noticeable when the Grimm turned on her. "Though, the crucial question at the moment is whether it is sufficient proof of our power for Lady Khan?"

As much as she prided herself on strength, Sienna couldn't help but gulp in the face of the strange Grimm. The fact that she was in the presence of the black creatures without fighting for her life was a sensation she'd slowly gotten used to over the last few months. This particular species was not like the rest of its kind, created by Salem specifically to act as communication outlets. She had little doubt she could easily kill the both of them. Their allies and master on the other hand…

Sienna had seen firsthand what Hazel was capable of against Adam, and Esper Rosenflos was now the undisputed ruler of Atlas (maybe she'd finally be able to make that pigsty a safe haven for faunus). To know that this darker voice, this Salem, commanded them so easily… well, she was suddenly a bit more understanding of why Adam was so willing to usurp her in a bid to take a seat at the table. The possibility of such patronage, such power. It was intoxicating.

And yet, his own fate warned of the dangers of such ambition. Adam had hoped to stand as one of the Gates and High Leader of the White Fang, but now he was a mere zombie, forced to divulge the names of his co-conspirators. Co-conspirators that her new allies had a purpose in mind for, one she did not concur with. The safer thing to do would be to keep her mouth shut and go along with it anyway… but Sienna had never been willing to sacrifice what she thought was right for what was safe.

"You have most certainly proven your capabilities," she said. "But I will not give my blessing to the destruction of Haven Academy, or the death of its students."

"Good," Salem smirked within the bulbous Grimm. "We don't want you to."

… huh?

"You asked me to send all those who sided with Adam to attack Haven?" she muttered.

"Yes. All those who sided _against_ you," Esper pointed out. "Thanks to Intelligence's efforts, it is public knowledge that you and Adam had a… falling out over Beacon. Release a statement that they're attempting to follow in their beloved Blood-Soaked Bull's footsteps without your approval, and no one will think you were involved."

"No, they'll just think I'm weak and can't control my own followers," Sienna growled. "The White Fang will never survive such an embarrassment."

"Then let it die," Salem declared.

Sienna's eyes narrowed. "What?"

"Let it die," the pale woman repeated. "The Fall of Beacon has already irreparably tainted the White Fang's reputation. As you said yourself, even disowning young Taurus will not help, save maybe on Menagerie. Maintaining the organization will bring you nothing."

"So, you expect me to just cast it aside?" Sienna challenged. "What about my men? Those who stayed loyal to me and the cause through thick and thin? Do you expect me to reward their faith with betrayal?"

"Well, my suggestion would be to reward them with well-paying positions of power in the Atlas military and government, help me craft policy to ensure no faunus is ever oppressed in this kingdom, and later the world, ever again," Esper replied. "The benefit to you and Adam being such dynamic symbols is that the public doesn't know anyone else, and those that would make it their business to know nonetheless are under my command. To make a better world, we must ensure there is mutual, _equal_ respect between humans and faunus, so we can focus on our true enemy."

"And you think they'll just go along with it?"

Salem shrugged. "They stayed with you when faced with Taurus. They believe in you."

Sienna scowled, but the dark witch was not wrong. Those that had sided with her over Adam in the coup were either the old guard that had stayed with her after the initial split with Ghira, or moderates who had joined the Fang just to get food on their tables or just didn't see another way to survive in a world that treated them like second-class citizens. If Esper really would be pushing through her reforms, neither group would object to joining the Atlas government and working to improve their people's lot if there was visible progress. Especially if Sienna herself supported it.

The tiger faunus had spent a decade fighting for her people. Just as Ghira was a symbol of the nonviolent early days of the White Fang, she was the symbol of the era of fighting back, of forcing humanity to recognize that they deserved respect. And if Adam had succeeded in his ambitions, there was no doubt he would have become a symbol of hatred and spite, a White Fang more concerned with power than doing anything resembling good. Yet, his attempted ascension had forced the organization to a turning point, one the demonic cabal of wizards that had taken over a kingdom suggested she use to put it in the ground.

"I'll need some time to consider the offer," she said. "And even if I do agree, it will take a few days to get everything in order with my followers for their trip to Atlas."

"That's perfectly alright," Esper smiled. "And if you do decide to join us, my agents in your ranks can help organize the trip."

Sienna's eyes widened. "You have spies in my followers?"

"I'm COMMAND ESR. I have spies everywhere."

"Regardless, you need fear no reprisal should you refuse our generous offer," Salem assured her. "We will require a pact of nonaggression in that case, however. We don't want to step on each other's toes. However, should you accept, Hazel will gladly escort you here to the Grimmlands in order to complete your ascension to the Gates."

Hazel raised an eyebrow. "Shall the Lord Ophiuchus and his partner be handling Haven alone then?"

"Hmm, they could," Salem hummed before shaking her head. "But that would require End to use far too much power and we do want Haven to still be standing when everything is over."

"What about Cinder and her friends?" Esper suggested. "Three Gates plus the guardian should be more than enough to handle anything the kingdom throws at them before my forces arrive."

"True, but they haven't mastered their abilities yet."

"Training can only do so much in that regard. End will be right there watching over them. Let them stretch their wings, see what they can do."

"I suppose. Very well, I'll have them set out tomorrow. Ensure your forces are ready to play their part."

"Of course, my queen."

Salem smiled and turned to Sienna. "I hope you shall be joining our family very soon, Lady Khan."

The bulbs of both Seers promptly faded to blackness and the demonic creatures floated off. Sienna let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding, the fur of her ears flattening against her head.

Hazel sighed and passed her a glass of brandy. "If it helps, Lionheart has delayed the school year. No students will be present when the attack occurs. The only ones who will be harmed will be Taurus' followers."

Sienna snatched the tumbler from him and sipped from the top of the amber liquid, the alcohol burning as it flowed down her throat. The warmth was welcome after her talk with the Mother of Grimm. "I know that. It doesn't even really matter if the attack succeeds or not. It's just one big piece of theatre, a smokescreen to take the Relic of Knowledge without raising suspicion."

"And with it in hand, we are one step closer to victory," Hazel reminded her, setting the brandy bottle down without taking any for himself. "With the lamp, we can obtain the locations of every Fairy Sphere, including the one we need for the Queen's stratagem. After that, it's just a matter of uniting the world in alliance."

"Or conquest," Sienna noted.

Hazel frowned. "With any luck, we'll be able to avoid any unnecessary bloodshed."

"Unnecessary bloodshed…" Sienna murmured, chuckling as she took another sip from her drink, memories of another time drinking next to a different bulky man rising to the surface of her mind. "Honorable, kind, and not wanting anyone to get hurt. You're a lot like my friend Ghira, except he walked away from the fight instead of following it through to the end. Oh, and he's a faunus while you're a human. Not sure if that makes it even more impressive or not."

"It's an honor to be compared to him," Hazel said. "Ghira Belladonna has done fine work for the world."

"Indeed. Though, he never could have stomached the things you and your master have allowed," Sienna replied. "How did someone like you end up serving Salem anyway?"

Hazel's face darkened. "It's a long story."

Sienna nursed her drink. "We're to be allies, correct?"

"You haven't said you'll join us."

"Convince me," Sienna challenged, flashing the man a wide smirk. "I've seen your strength, and you've told me at least some of your plans. Give me a personal sell."

Hazel held her gaze for a moment. If he desired, he could squash her like a bug, and she wouldn't be able to do a thing to stop him. But he was an honorable man, and though such a person's anger was to be rightfully feared, it would not be so easily provoked. In the end, just as she'd planned, the large demon man sighed.

"I began as her enemy, stifling her efforts under the command of a foolish wizard. But when he sent my sister, who was still a student, into a fight he knew she couldn't win, I… lost myself. I stormed the Grimmlands, determined to put an end to what I thought was her evil," he explained. "And there, she opened my eyes."

"To… what?" Sienna inquired. "Because otherwise that statement is sounding very brainwashed."

Hazel raised an eyebrow. "You run a terrorist organization and you're asking me about indoctrination?"

"Don't avoid the question," she commanded, though her tone kept the matter joking. It wouldn't do to have him think she was being impertinent.

"The Queen told me the truth, showed me what _Ozpin_ had kept hidden," Hazel replied, his brow furrowing fury at the mention of the fallen (or not so fallen) huntsman. "He has the entire world endlessly fending off Grimm, recruiting children and indoctrinating them into thinking they'll be heroes. Perhaps they are. But they, and my family, died for nothing. The Grimm do not end. A day, a year, a century. Eventually, no matter how the arrogant wizard tries to prevent it, the kingdoms will fall to them. And every person huntsmen have ever given their lives to save will be slaughtered anyway."

"That's a pessimistic way of looking at things," Sienna noted. Though, she couldn't say he was wrong. "How's Salem going to change that? If she really doesn't control the Grimm, how is she going to stop them?"

"By cutting out the source. Something _Ozpin_ is too much of a coward to even attempt," Hazel growled. "One of the most important traits in any warrior is the ability to adapt. If a strategy has proven itself insufficient, only a mad man keeps sacrificing lives on its altar. We must keep moving forward, and make sure Gretchen, Gretel, and everyone else the Grimm have ever killed did not die in vain."

Sienna pursed her lips, emptying her glass as she considered Hazel's words. The idea of changing strategy if the previous one proved ineffective was not a new thought in her mind. She'd used it herself when arguing with Ghira about the necessity of violent resistance to human discrimination. Boycotts and rallies only did so much when the oppressors didn't care about their voices. Sometimes, the only course was to fight back. And yet, if Adam's actions, and their immense popularity, were anything to go by, fighting back was quickly coming to mean genocide, one way or the other. She could not allow that.

Yet, could she destroy the White Fang to do it? She remembered the days when it was just her and Ghira in a hut with an idea. She remembered when Kali joined them, and others soon after, going from kingdom to kingdom, bringing supplies to starving faunus and getting shot at for doing it. She remembered editing her old friend's speeches and organizing their supplies. Even the arguments that eventually led to their split and her taking sole command of the group, she looked back on with a degree of fondness. They had built the White Fang together, and it was something truly beautiful, something that gave hope to thousands even after Adam's actions had tarnished it. How could she throw that away?

Ghira had. They'd shouted and screamed at each other for hours, but in the end, her old friend had stepped down rather than compromise his beliefs. He had walked away from the White Fang to do what he believed would better serve their people. Whatever their differences on whether that belief was correct, she had always respected that about him. And here she was hesitating to do the same thing.

The White Fang or her people. It wasn't even a choice.

"I'll do it. I'll join you as a Gate," Sienna proclaimed, setting her empty glass down on the table. "But there is one detail I'll need clarification on."

"Name it," Hazel replied.

"How are you going to claim the White Fang has been destroyed without declaring me dead?" she inquired. "I may not be as infamous as Adam, but I've done too much for Atlas to be able to just let me go free."

A small smile crossed Hazel's chiseled features. "We have multiple contingencies for just such a situation. One is for Esper to claim you dead without a body. With her current control, she'd hardly need to provide a body."

"But it wouldn't be as solid without one," she noted. "And there would still be the chance I'd be seen, and everything would collapse."

"Indeed. Which is why I personally suggest an alternate approach," He raised his tree trunk of an arm, vibrant yellow fur coating the appendage. "I didn't have this before I ascended."

Sienna raised an eyebrow. "Go on."

"The process of becoming an Eclipse Etherious by its nature changes the body. Those changes are usually contained in our unreleased state and so long as our books remain undamaged and untampered with, our minds will remain sound," Hazel explained. "However, if we could take advantage of the process to modify your face slightly, it would remove any threat of your being discovered."

"Interesting," she replied. "And my body to present to the public?"

"Hell's Core is constantly creating new Seers and Scarabs and testing new demonic forms for possible ascensions. Manufacturing a substitute for your original form will be a simple matter for the Queen."

A long smile blossomed across Sienna's face. "Well then, a toast. To the better world to come."

She poured herself another brandy and made to give him one, but he held out his palm to decline. "I'll gladly join the toast, but I don't partake."

"Really?" the tiger faunus said. "Can Eclipse Etherious not get drunk?"

"I wouldn't know. I've never tried," he confessed. "I don't like the taste."

"Maybe not with cheap beer, but this is Atlas Brandy," Sienna smirked, pouring him a fifth of a glass. "If we're going to be allies, you're going to need to lighten up."

Hazel frowned. "The work we do requires focus."

"You can't keep focus all the time," Sienna advised, raising her glass. "You've done your job. You've won me over. Now, relax."

Hazel sighed, but he raised his brandy. The two clinked their glasses together and downed the alcohol to seal their alliance. The Gate promptly spewed out the drink, the very expensive brandy spraying across the office. The big, bad Eclipse Etherious that could flatten armies broke out into a round of coughs.

"Still tastes disgusting," he sputtered.

Sienna couldn't help but laugh. He really did remind her of Ghira. The big oaf could only keep down his wife's tea without burning his throat.

She wondered how he would react to the public announcement of her 'death'. He'd probably give her an earful when she finally tracked him down and told him the truth. But by that point, his daughter would be on the Gates with her, so he wouldn't get too mad, they'd have made the world a better place by then.

She pondered whether she and Blake would be in the Grimmlands for their ascensions at the same time. Tyrian had to have taken her off Menagerie by now. With the Albains out of the way, what could delay them?

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

"Are you sure it's here, my lady? It is far enough out of the way that the Queen's previous searches wouldn't have located it, but still…"

"I have the guildmark. You don't," Blake scowled, the light of the shattered moon shining down from the sky. The desert winds kicked up wisps of sand that floated through the night. "It's here. I can sense it."

Her plan to tell Tyrian there was a Fairy Sphere in the Grimm-infested desert and get him to escort her there safely had worked perfectly. The Deathstalker nest she'd been training with for the last few months was conspicuously absent, though given her mad companion was ecstatic at the chance to retrieve another Fairy Tail member for Salem and the Grimm arm she was wearing to shield her own immense terror, there just might not have been enough negative emotions to attract them back from wherever they stay the night. Thus, it was only her and the even more terrifying scorpion.

Even still, the Fairy Sphere was right above them. And if she could break it open, whichever of her guildmates was inside would be able to help her fight off Tyrian. Granted, there was an immense risk with such a plan. If the friend that came out wasn't strong enough to help her defeat the Gate, he'd drag them before Salem and they'd both suffer whatever insidious tortures she had in store.

But, if someone more impressive than her came out, such as a certain anti-devil mentor of hers, a redhead Queen of the Fairies, or even a withdrawn blond with an affinity for electricity, they were going to paint the desert sands with scorpion guts.

She pointed up into the heavens, the sphere of magic invisible to her eyes and blurry to her mystical senses, but there, nonetheless. "There. Now we just need to open it."

"Excellent!" Tyrian cackled.

Blake cringed at the madman's display, unsure if she was supposed to be terrified or disturbed. "Yeah, well… just give me a moment. The only thing I've got that's powerful enough to bust it open isn't exactly something I have experience—"

"Hahahaha!" Tyrian laughed, thrusting both his hands and tail into the sky, an ominous orange glow emanating around all three appendages. A trio of sand pillars, each sharing the shine, rose from the desert floor and shot into the heavens. They smashed into the area of the Fairy Sphere, the gigantic golden orb suddenly visible as the guild's symbol blazed through the night.

Blake's mouth dropped open. "Ho… how?"

"I would never force a beloved friend of the Queen to do something that I could handle myself," Tyrian proclaimed. "That would simply be ungentlemanly."

"But… I thought you needed to be a guild member to open one."

"Only a member of the guild can _sense_ them. Any sufficient surge of magic can open them," the madman explained. "The only reason the Queen has only found one over all these millennia is that searching every scrap of sky on Remnant is a tiresome endeavor and she has a multitude of responsibilities to attend to. Hell's Core and the Ascension Chamber didn't perfect themselves!"

"Ri… right."

In hindsight, that did make some sense. Wendy did mention something about it if she remembered correctly. Probably escaped her mind, what with her tendency to think everything was up to her alone and trepidation about her transformation. She'd still have to get over the latter if she was to survive Tyrian.

But she wouldn't have to do it alone. Not only were Sun, Ilia, and her parents mustering the Menagerie guard at the wall, but she was about to get backup in the form of one of Fiore's finest guild's very strongest—

"Yaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!"

The golden glow of the Fairy Sphere faded and a thin figure plummeted from the sky, screaming in terror before she smashed into the sand dune.

Blake's eyes widened and she felt a flash of utter panic grip her. The figure that had fallen… had long, _blonde_ hair.

"No," she muttered. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no…"

The yellow-haired girl flailed her legs and tugged herself out of the dune, spitting sand as she maneuvered herself into a sitting position.

"Ah… ah, ehew," she sputtered, as she expelled the grains from her mouth. Her brown eyes scanned the desert, widening when they locked onto the cat faunus. "Blake!"

"Lucy," Blake replied miserably, catching Tyrian's wide grin out of the corner of her eye. "We're fucked."

* * *

 **Blake wanted a Five-Star Mira, but the gacha gave her a Lucy. (That's how gacha games work, right? Never actually played one).**

 **So, kind of worked out that this chapter only needed to be short transition chapter. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't have had the time to get anything out.**

 **An extra huge thank you to my patrons: Gregg Tracton, Annaya Chan, Keith Tracton, Nora Okonus, KefkaesqueXIII, Christian Howard, SanyaBane, Matthew Blevins, and David Wayman.**

 **Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!**

 **Go Forth and Conquer!**


	35. Chapter 34

**Hope everyone is safe and sound despite the current pandemic.**

 **Beta-ed by xenosaiyan**

* * *

 _Lucy had been in tough spots before. When Tartaros had trapped the entire guild in Alegria, she was forced to fend off the demons alone. When DiMaria had captured her and Natsu and made plain her intentions to torture them to death. When Acnologia's body had rampaged across Fiore, set on burning the entire world to the ground. Each time, she had held out hope and her guildmates had rewarded her faith. Aquarius had told her how to open the Gate of the King and gave her the courage to go through with the sacrifice. Natsu had awakened and stopped DiMaria from going through with her twisted plan, with Erza saving him and Gray from themselves right after. Even when the Black Dragon of the Apocalypse had sought armageddon, her friends had rallied with her and everyone in Fiore to put a stop to his mindless bloodlust. With all that under her belt, one might think that her current situation should not have frightened the young Celestial Spirit Wizard as much as it did. Except there was one huge difference between those times and now._

 _Her guildmates were gone._

 _The Moon God Dragon Selene had attempted to use the White Witch as her pawn, to manipulate her into galvanizing her fellow God Dragons for war and sealing the abilities of those like the Water God Dragon who would never be convinced of such a thing. With the threat of Acnologia gone, she saw no reason why the age of dragons should not come again._

 _But she underestimated Touka, or rather the witch possessing the poor Exceed. The ancient mage was not a piece, but a player, and once she discovered the deception, she acted quickly to render the God Dragons powerless, the magic made mere fuel for her global FACE plan. A plan that she had seen fit to mind control Fairy Tail into as her pawns. Only the Strongest Team had escaped, and she had taken swift action to ensure they would not interfere._

 _Natsu and Happy had been poisoned before they'd even realized what was happening, their beloved food laced with Bane Particles. Wendy and Carla had nearly been torn apart by a beam of solid moonlight as their own family had fallen upon them, ready to kill. Erza and Gray had fought with every ounce of strength they had, but even they would have been defeated instantly had an unexpected ally not arrived, a woman they'd met only once before, when she'd delivered a long sought-after book to the guildhall. And informed them of the fate of their four guildmates who'd searched for it._

 _Sitara, creator and author of the tome that had brought Team RWBY to Earthland, and currently the only reason Lucy was still alive, had saved them at that first clash, bought them time to seal their wounded in Fairy Spheres so they could retrieve them after this was all handled and give them proper medical care. When Gray had nearly been torn in half by Gildarts after he and Erza had defeated Laxus, the blonde-haired woman had not only bought Lucy the time to seal away the Devil Slayer before he'd bled out but had even managed to defeat the Ace of Fairy Tail in a battle that levelled the town they were in._

 _Now, she was the only ally Lucy had left. Even Erza had collapsed from her injuries, having run a gauntlet of the guild's finest, falling only after concluding a thunderous clash with Mirajane. Except the eldest Strauss' injuries had merely knocked her unconscious. The Titania's body was soaked in so much red, Lucy didn't think her friend would have survived if she had been even a second slower with the Sphere._

 _Not that her own odds of survival were any better._

 _She knelt, utterly exhausted, before the gigantic FACE pillar, monumentally more powerful than the hundreds that had been scattered throughout Fiore. The only thing that had even a chance of destroying it was the titanic, twelve-headed hydra stampeding towards it._

 _Except that in an instant, five gargantuan, multicolored beams of light blazed through the heavens and cut the mighty beast to pieces. If it had only been the heads destroyed, that obviously wouldn't have been an issue, but even the body was sliced to ribbons by the divine assault. The hydra dissipated to dust and the wielder that laid within, Sitara, tumbled across the ground next to Lucy, the normally elegant blonde woman caked in dust and dirt._

 _The White Witch hovered above them and cackled, her skin aglow with an ethereal shine, five orbs of red, blue, brown, white, and black, the manifestation of the Five God Dragons' power, orbiting around her._

" _That should have killed you," she remarked. "But I suppose you should have been dead after our last encounter as well."_

 _Sitara snarled. "You mean when you destroyed my laboratory and stole my research?"_

" _Precisely." The witch gestured back to the machine that was gearing up to remove all ethernano from the world. "I needed this machine to complete the divine will of Ankh, to remove the taint of Seram's gift from this world. And I couldn't have there be anyone who might know how to disarm it."_

 _Lucy's eyes widened. "She never did anything to you, and you tried to kill her?"_

" _It needed to be done. I attempted to bring her into the White, but it did not work. Such was Ankh's will."_

 _Surprisingly, Sitara smirked. "Are you quite sure about that, you body stealing hag?"_

 _The White Witch's eyes narrowed. "Quite so. I am the God of Light's devoted servant. If he did not wish for you to be claimed by his grace—"_

" _I was born in his grace!" Sitara shouted, a victorious grin splitting her face. "It is by his petty cruelty that I am in this world, and his and his brother's hubris that I cannot leave! Yet even I can tell that you do not do his will! He has no grudge with Seram, nor hatred for the magic he gifted humanity! You have twisted his teachings into your own mad dogma!"_

 _The witch scowled. "This is for the good of all. Without magic, there will never be another Zeref or Acnologia."_

 _Lucy frowned. "Funny. I don't remember seeing you helping during the war."_

" _A conflict of magic holds no interest to me, lest it is the last of such wars that shall ever mar the world." The White Witch smiled at Lucy and raised her hand. "You, Lucy Heartfilia, shall aid me in that endeavor. Be tainted white!"_

 _The light of the witch's flesh blazed even brighter, scrambling over Lucy like a thousand wiry tentacles. The Celestial Spirit Wizard screamed, feeling her magic energy drain away as her foe's power reached into her mind—_

 _And then all of a sudden it was gone. Lucy blinked, and glanced down at her hands, confused if she'd been affected or not. But she was back at full strength and still had every desire to deliver a Lucy Kick to the White Witch's face, so…_

" _What?!" the witch roared. She turned to Sitara and snarled. "You! How?!"_

 _The blonde woman chuckled. "Like I said, I was born in Ankh's grace. I know a little bit about his curses, and your warped version is hardly a challenge to take apart. Honestly, Zeref had a far better understanding of how to mimic a god's power. And since you've informed me that such parlor tricks are how you've taken control of the God Dragons' power…"_

 _The White Witch's eyes widened with panic. "No! You can't!"_

 _Sitara glared. "You stole my research and made war on my friends' family. It's only fitting that I take away what power you have."_

 _Dark, spindly veins blossomed across the blonde woman's veins, her clear blue eyes' scleras blackening to the hue of the night. She raised her arms and a pair of portals opened in front of her, a sky coated with stars visible on the other side. The orbs of power surrounding the White Witch began to crack and splinter._

" _No!" she howled. With a wave of her hand, the spheres all coalesced behind her, aimed straight at the FACE. "I will not let you!"_

" _It's useless," Sitara mocked. "Even if you bind them to that thing, I know the loopholes of your bootlegged curse. I can easily break it before the countdown finishes."_

 _The White Witch smirked. "Countdown? Poor little abomination. Did you really think I'd go to the trouble of creating something like this and leave such an asinine function in the design?"_

 _Sitara paled. "Oh no."_

" _Star Dress," Lucy muttered, cluttering the key to her chest. "_ _ **Cancer Form**_ _."_

" _Let magic perish from this world!" the witch clamored. "Let the entire world become white!"_

 _She thrust her arms outward and the five God Dragon Spheres blasted back, screeching towards the FACE pillar, the ethereal glow fading from the White Witch as the power fled her being and she plummeted to the ground._

 _Just in time for Lucy, in her fastest form, to dash across the short distance to the pillar and run up its side, reaching the area where the orbs were due to impact. She stabbed her blades into the machine to hold her in place and braced herself for the blast._

" _Bind it to me!" she screamed, praying Sitara would understand her meaning, because she had no time to say anything more and there was no way she was going to survive this if she didn't._

 _Fortunately, it seemed her ally understood her panicked words, her portals disappearing as her hands lit up with a golden glow. She had understood the White Witch's spell enough to be able to pull the loose thread of her intricate tapestry, maybe she'd been able to weave a version of it to allow the God Dragon's magic to be safely channeled through the Celestial Spirit Mage instead of FACE. Or you know, keep it from incinerating her._

 _But was it even a spell? They'd both talked about it being the witch's attempt to mimic the power of a God, but they'd referred to it as a curse. Like the Etherious? Zeref had made them to bypass his Curse of Contradiction and that had been inflicted on him by a god. Could the powers of Tartaros, of E.N.D., could they have been based off divine abilities? A human-made evolution of ethernano fueled magic?_

 _Of course, her pondering was cut off when the God Dragons' power struck and—oh god!_

 _There was pain, agony, more than she'd ever dreamt of, and she'd experienced quite a bit in her life. Her muscles felt like they'd been poured in molten metal and a blizzard was ravaging her throat. A spider web of roots tunneled through her flesh as a blinding flash of silver moonlight burned across her vision._

 _She didn't know how long it lasted, maybe a moment, maybe an hour, maybe a century. But by the time she could see again, the FACE pillar was rubble, the White Witch was unconscious on the ground, and Sitara and Mira were leaning over her, their faces pale and their eyes wide._

" _She's still fading!" Mira cried. "I thought you dissipated the power!"_

" _I did!" Sitara protested, tears soaking her cheeks. "I… I… I didn't do it right. The curse was a bootleg of a bootleg and I don't think I did it right. The God Dragons' power is gone but her body was strained too much while it was there."_

" _What does that mean?" Mira demanded. "Can't we heal her?"_

 _Sitara flinched. "We pour more magic in and that'll just make things worse. Her body needs time to bled off the excess power, but by the time it does that-"_

" _She'll already be dead," Mira finished, her face falling into her hands._

" _I'm sorry. I should have been better. I should have done more…" Sitara muttered. "Ruby was right. I should have done more."_

" _Ruby," Mira said the name like an incantation, her eyes shooting up to Sitara and looking upon her with… horror? What was that about?_

 _Whatever the reason for the terror, Mira instantly turned away from the other blonde and gripped Lucy's hand in her own. "Lucy, you have to use Fairy Sphere. Freeze your body's time and the magic will have time to bleed out."_

" _Or she could use it as fuel!" Sitara cheered. "That's brilliant! Then we can find her and the others and release them as soon as enough time has passed."_

 _Mira flinched, her grip on Lucy's palm tightening. "Whatever happens Lucy, whenever or wherever you end up… the guild will always be with you. Fairy Tail will be with you all as long as you live."_

 _It might have been the intense agony pulsing over her brain or maybe the fact that she currently couldn't feel her face, but some reason, Lucy felt that Mira's words sounded suspiciously like a goodbye. For the briefest moment, she saw the smiling silver-haired idol who first stamped her hand with her guildmark all those years ago._

 _Then that image disappeared and all that was left was the sobbing older sister she'd come to adore, who'd guided her through so much and gave her friends the spare key to her house. She didn't want her to cry. And if she died, she'd just cry more. She couldn't let that happen._

" _Stand… back…" she croaked out, her throat cracking like a desert._

 _Mira and Sitara heeded her words, both with tears leaking down their faces. Lucy closed her eyes and reached into the titanic power still permeating her body, grasping onto that to fuel the spell and reinforce those she'd already cast. But raw strength would not be enough. A Fairy Sphere could only be forged from the bond between Fairy Tail members, from the love and devotion they held for each other. For each of her friends that she had put into stasis, she had taken their hands and channeled their specific bond to protect them._

 _Gray, the older brother she never knew she wanted, always protective and always there to pull her out whenever she got over her head._

 _Wendy, the little sister she always knew she wanted, so proud of the strong woman she'd watched the sweet young girl grow into. With Carla by her side, she knew she'd always be able to follow her heart._

 _Erza, the older sister of them all, as wild and wacky as the rest of them, but still the only bastion of order in the guild. Without her, they all would have died a hundred times over, and lost their way far worse another dozen. She was their rock, their Queen. Their beautiful Titania._

 _Happy, the scamp of a little brother she knew she never wanted, but despite the constant teasing, knew she would never dare trade away._

 _Natsu…_

 _Natsu… was her everything. If she had never met him, her life would be so much smaller, so much worse. Scatterbrained as he could be at times, he was her guiding light, her eternal flame. And if she'd never have another chance to admit it, to herself or him… She… she lov…_

 _No. She'd tell him later. When they were both healed and at their best._

 _Later._

 _Her bonds guided the God Dragons' power, strengthening the spheres she'd already cast. And at last, a shimmering golden shine began to form around her. When it faded at last and she and her friends awakened, healed and healthy, everything would be alright._

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

Sand! Ah, darn it, she woke up and there was sand! Gah, it was in her mouth!

Lucy spat out as much sand as she could as she staggered into a sitting position and took stock of her new situation. The God Dragons' magic was completely gone, and her body didn't feel like it was being torn apart anymore, so it appeared the Sphere had worked as intended. As for where she'd come out, she was in a desert, which definitely hadn't been there when she'd gone under.

More importantly, she was face-to-face with a friend she thought she'd never see again.

"Blake?" she muttered.

"Lucy," the cat faunus replied, her face pale. "We're fucked."

Okay, that was hardly the reunion she'd expected (what in the world was that demonic black claw over her arm—oh, it's gone now), but whatever confusion the Celestial Spirit Wizard had was put on hold as her eyes were drawn to the cackling guy with a scorpion tail standing next to her. The guy brimming with curse energy.

"Hahahahahaha! Hahahahahaha! Hahahahahaha! Oh, glorious! Oh, glorious, wonderful day! Fate truly smiles upon us this day, my goddess!" the man, the _faunus_ , laughed. He dipped himself forward in a bow towards Lucy. "Lady Heartfilia, it is my distinct honor and privilege to meet you. The Queen has been waiting a long time to see you again! With your aid, we shall acquire the final piece to complete mankind's evolution!"

"Uh… huh?" Lucy replied, cocking an eyebrow. "Blake, what's he talking abou—ah!"

A giant black scorpion with blazing red eyes burst out of the sand next to her, its huge claws streaking for her head. However, the laughing faunus leapt into the creature's path before it could make contact, his stinger slamming the monster's claw into the desert floor. That might have been the end of it, except at least a dozen more of the creatures rose up to join their kin, a demonic screech echoing through the air.

"Oh, what fun!" the faunus cackled. "What fun indeed!"

Lucy leapt to her feet and narrowed her eyes. This guy might have been weird, but he'd protected her from the black scorpion, so she wasn't going to let him fight that thing alone, curse energy or not. She plucked a key from her belt and made ready her magic. " **Open! Gate of the—** Yah!"

Her words were cut off when Blake grabbed her wrist and _ran_. She was about to ask her friend what she was doing when the huntress' back was suddenly covered in a pair of huge black _wings_. With a single flap, the two Fairy Tail wizards took off into the sky.

"What are you doing?" Lucy protested, the wind whipping past her face. "We can't let him fight those things alone!"

"I called them," Blake revealed. "I figured if I dropped my arm Take-Over, my fear would be more than enough to draw the Grimm in and buy us an opening to get away."

"Grimm? Those were… Grimm…"

Lucy's words died in her throat as the pair soared through the night sky. And she saw the shattered moon that occupied its center.

"Blake, what's going on?" she asked, her voice trembling. "Where are we?"

Her cat faunus friend cringed. "The short version? Remnant, my homeland of Menagerie. That guy, Tyrian, is some weird demon-spirit hybrid who works for a Grimm-demon lady called Salem who wants to do horrible things to us."

"What?!" Lucy squealed. "What the heck does she want with me?! I just got here!"

"I don't know all the details and you asked for the short version!"

The Celestial Spirit Wizard sighed, a bead of sweat dropping down her forehead. "Business as usual then. Any chance you've got a plan?"

"Well, the plan was to crack open the Fairy Sphere and hope that Mira was inside."

"A respectable plan. Sorry for messing it up."

"Not your fault. Just means we've got to rely on my dad's." Blake snatched a flare gun from her belt and aimed behind them, at the sky just above Tyrian and the rapidly depleting population of Grimm. "I just hope it works."

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

"Are you sure this is going to work, sir?" Sun asked, glancing across the wall of Kuo Kuana. The entire Menagerie Guard, hundreds of faunus in armor, were encamped on and around the fortification. They bustled between their cargo haulers and the fort, distributing supplies and ammunition between the dozens of artillery emplacements, all lined up towards the desert. "I mean don't get me wrong, those are some very large guns, but what's to say he won't just shrug them off?"

Saber Rodentia, the veteran gerbil faunus captain of the guard with a scar running down his eye, cocked an eyebrow. "These are eighty-eight-millimeter caliber cannons, young man. Vale made them to put holes in Goliaths. Even if this guy is some magical super soldier like you say, it ain't going to do him much good when we blow him into a pile of ashes."

Sun glanced between Ghira and Ilia, neither of whom looked so confident. They'd all seen what Tyrian was capable of, and he was holding back then. Logically, even the most powerful huntsman could be brought down if they were hit with enough firepower when they weren't expecting it. But they were dealing with magic and demons, and things that not even the wizards completely understood.

Whatever the case, they caught sight of a purple flare sparking over a specific point in the desert.

"That's Blake's signal!" Ghira shouted. "Battle stations! Focus all your firepower on that area!"

The guards saluted their chieftain and hopped to their cannons, rotating the behemoths as their moonlit shadows spanned across the sands. The back of the barrels were opened up and the eighty-eight-millimeter fire dust shells were locked inside.

"What do we do if this doesn't work?" Ilia asked.

"There's still two Fairy Tail members out there. We will put our faith in them. And if they fail…" Ghira looked to Sun, the legendary faunus' confident façade cracking just slightly. "Blake said those Relics were made by gods, right?"

The monkey faunus nodded. "That's what Qrow said."

"Then we pray."

The cannons unleashed their bombardment and their thunder howled across the desert.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

Tyrian found it exceptionally irritating when the first shell struck. It plowed right through a Deathstalker he'd been about to cut in half, the gigantic Grimm pulverized to nothing before the dust inside even had time to ignite.

He had been having such a lovely day: plotting to take Lady Blake back to the Queen, discovering Lady Lucy, being set upon by a horde of Grimm that he could butcher to his heart's content. So simple, so pleasant. But then, unnatural thunder had split the sky and dozens of fire shells had rained down around him, obliterating what few Deathstalkers he had not already slaughtered and even blasting through his aura and tearing off his legs.

Tyrian couldn't help but sneer, pain lancing through him as his upper body was sent flying. How annoying. Regular humans and faunus were beneath their kind, weaker by nature. That was why the Queen, in her infinite wisdom and benevolence, desired to elevate their kind. But the two species had not survived the endless onslaught of Grimm for nothing. Weak as they were, their tenacity when what they loved was threatened was unmatched. Ghira Belladonna certainly did not understand the distinct honor being paid his daughter by her selection as a candidate.

But he had only brought an army to bear against Tyrian. And the Etherious of old could defeat an army.

Time to show them what a Gate of the Queen was capable of.

" **Eclipse** **Etherious Form**."

Power surged through him, demonic and celestial, his restraints shattered to ashes. His body churned with raw mystical force, his flesh mutating to make the necessary compensation for his strength. His legs were the first thing to return, the other long, spindly addition sprouting out from his rear.

Tyrian grinned. It was so rare that he had an opportunity to unleash his full might. He would make sure to thank Chieftain Belladonna for his gift. After he'd burned Menagerie to ash.

He placed his hands on the sand below, the orange glow of his curse seeping all around for a mile in every direction. His stingers thrust forward and at his command, the desert rose.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

Blake watched the shells fall over Tyrian, the thunder of the blasts rupturing her eardrums. She watched the fire dust bombardment crash down on the sands, charring it black, nearly to glass. Her Griffon wings barely held her and Lucy aloft as the shockwave buffeted the airborne wizards. A cloud of ash and smoke rose over the desert, obscuring wherever remained of Tyrian and the Deathstalkers from view.

"What the hell?!" Lucy yelled, her own eardrums likely shot. "Was that really necessary?"

"Maybe?" Blake shouted back. "The guild's specialty is overkill. At least this way we can be… sure?"

The cat faunus paled, her limbs going cold as the surge of raw power ruptured through the air. Curse energy, the likes she hadn't felt since Kyoka, no, surpassing it, along with a rush of magical power alongside it, permeated through the land and sky.

An orange glow, one she intimately recalled from her last battle with Tyrian, spread across the sand, larger than she'd ever seen. A wild, hellish cackle rose from the dust cloud, the shadow of a scorpion with two stingers visible within the shadows. And a moment later, the desert climbed into the heavens, a typhoon of glowing sand half a mile high.

"No," Blake muttered.

The cloud of sand surged across the sky and rammed into the walls of Kuo Kuona, billions of grains of sand grinding against the reinforced steel. The fortifications creaked but held, they were made to withstand sandstorms after all.

But not sandstorms where every grain was a bomb.

"Dad!"

The explosion erupted into the heavens, fire and smoke reaching even higher to brush the stars themselves. The shockwave blew Blake and Lucy out of the sky, sending the Fairy Tail wizards careening into the dunes below.

Blake staggered to her knees, her wide eyes staring in horror at the broken ruins of Kuo Kuona's wall, wreaked steel and scattered cinders the only remnants of the great defense of the faunus. Screams echoed through the night, loyal guardsmen likely set ablaze either from the explosion or the ammunition caches it had ignited.

And beneath it all, a gleeful, mad cackle.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

The ringing was the first thing Sun heard when he awoke. After that, it was the screams.

Then, it was Ilia.

"Come on, wake up!" the chameleon faunus, her face caked in ash and soot, shouted, shaking his limp body. "Come on, monkey boy! Don't tell me some tiny thing like that is all it took to put you down!"

"Ugh, thanks for the vote of confidence," he groaned.

Ilia breathed a sigh of relief and helped him rise to a sitting position on the sand, giving him a primetime view of the remains of their plan. The half a mile stretch of wall they'd occupied had been blown to pieces, superheated chunks of metal glowing bright orange in the night. The Menagerie Guard laid about the dunes as corpses or flaming soon-to-be corpses. The few that weren't in their death throes scurried about the remains of the fortification, rescuing those that were trapped under wreckage and applying first aid where they could. Honestly, as terrifying as the event was, it was somewhat heartening to see the forces of the island react so well to the crisis. If only the danger wasn't far beyond their ability to deal with.

"Ghira?" Sun asked, frantically searching the ruins. "Where's Ghira?!"

"Here!" Sun and Ilia's eyes darted towards the booming voice of the chieftain, the towering panther faunus entire left side covered in soot and ash. Blake's father stood over Saber's moaning form, lifting a hunk of bent steel off the captain of his guard.

The two younger faunus leapt to their elder's side and tugged Saber out from under the wreckage. Ghira released his grip and let out a rush of breath, the metal sinking into the sand without his support.

"Is he alright?" the chieftain inquired.

Ilia pressed two fingers to the captain's throat. "He's breathing, barely. Better than most out here."

Ghira scowled. "Find something to get the wounded into the city. They need medical attention, now."

"It won't matter what medical attention they get if Tyrian burns down the island," Sun growled.

"Are you insane?" Ilia said. "He just survived an artillery barrage and nearly killed _everyone_ in one shot! What can you possibly do against him?"

"I don't know!" Sun confessed. "But Blake wouldn't have fired the flare if she thought she and whoever came out of the sphere could take him. Which means she didn't get who she was hoping for, and that means she's in trouble! And I'm not going to let them fight a battle like that alone!"

"Then go."

"Huh?"

Ilia's eyes widened. "Chieftain Belladonna?"

Ghira scowled, but his eyes never left Sun. "I'll stay here and save who I can. If you think you can do anything at all to help Blake, then get out there."

"Right… right!"

Sun gave the older man a quick bow and dashed off towards the area of wreckage that looked the least… wrecked. A good chunk of the supply haulers had been destroyed when the ammunition had ignited, but at least one of the cars must have been salvageable. It was the only way he'd get to the battlefield in time.

Fortunately, he was right, finding one vehicle that was turned on its side, but otherwise only lightly scoured along its plating. He clapped his hands together and summoned four light clones, shoving into the car and pushing it right-side up. With a grin, he recalled his semblance and leapt into the driver's seat—

Only to realize that the vehicle's key was gone.

"You have got to be kidding me," he cursed, smacking his face into his hand. His friend needed his help, and he was going to get stopped because the damn keys had gotten knocked out? Blake needed help! It would take ages to find the keys in the sand, even with his clones, and that was without all the chaos going on around them—

"Scoot over," Ilia commanded, shoving him into shotgun. He squawked indignantly at the intervention but the chameleon faunus had already ducked below the steering and cracked open the wiring. In about ten seconds, the hauler's engine roared to life.

"Woah, awesome," Sun whispered before cocking an eyebrow. "Where'd you learn how to hotwire?"

"Freedom fighter, remember?"

"Terrorist."

"Freedom fighter," Ilia narrowed her eyes. "Weren't you a thief? Why _don't_ you know how to hotwire?"

"You ever been to Vacuo?" Sun smirked. "There aren't a lot of cars."

"Excuses," Ilia snorted, hitting the gas and flooring them through the wreckage. After a few moments, her confident expression wavered. "Do you think we can beat him?"

Sun grimaced. He remembered how powerless he'd felt at Beacon and in the desert against Blake's Grimm form. He remembered how Tyrian had taken that form apart without breaking a sweat. He remembered that the demon scorpion was no longer indulging in whatever shred of restraint he had previously held to. He remembered how he himself had no magic, no strength beyond his aura, his training, and his luck.

And he remembered how the island would burn and Blake would be dragged before Salem if they failed.

"We'll have to."

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

It had been a while since Lucy had sensed any significant amount of curse energy. And yet, she couldn't help the trembling that ran through her body the moment she sensed the enormous sum emanating out from within the smoke, mixed in with a healthy chunk of magic. Magic that she felt like she should have recognized except she could barely contain her panic.

Tyrian's form when he emerged from the smog didn't help on that front.

His jet black that had been tied back in a neat ponytail was now wild and free, tinged with streaks of a pale, sickly yellow. Turfs of fur of the same shade were scattered across his flesh, a fact that was all the more noticeable since his vest had seemingly disappeared, leaving his chiseled chest bare of clothing. His teeth were sharpened into razor-like canines, his wild eyes locked onto Lucy and Blake.

But rising up behind him was the most horrifying part. A pair of stingers, one the same as his original but twisted and aglow with orange pulses of energy, the other more mechanical and ending in some kind of spray gun. The latter was quite familiar to the Celestial Spirit Wizard, as well as the final clue needed for her to realize whose magic she was sensing from the madman.

"Be careful," Blake advised her, covering her own hands and feet with pitch-black talons. "Ethernano is thin here, so you won't be able to recharge as fast as you normally would."

"Scorpio," Lucy whispered. "He has Scorpio's magic."

Black flinched. "He's a demon and spirit hybrid. Salem calls them her Gates."

"On the contrary, Lady Blake," Tyrian called out. "We are no mere hybrids! A curse of hell made by man and a warrior of the heavens made by false gods! We are the pinnacle of mankind's evolution yet to come!"

Lucy's eyes narrowed. She had only Blake's word that this guy was as great a danger as she said, but even if she hadn't seen her friend in years, she trusted her with her life. Besides, in her experience, crazy people making speeches about heaven and hell usually weren't her allies.

She raised one of her golden keys. "Let's see how you do against the real Scorpio. **Open! Gate of the Scorpion!** "

She swung the instrument of the Zodiac downward, prepared to pay the toll for summoning her ally to her side.

Except nothing happened.

"Ooo!" Tyrian squealed, his body momentarily rigid, his arm outstretched towards Lucy. "I appreciate the invitation, my lady, but there is no need. I am already here to whisk you away."

Lucy paled. "Wha… what happened? Where's Scorpio?"

"What did you do?" Blake shouted, positioning herself in front of Lucy.

"What did I do? My lady, your question is all wrong. It should be, what _am_ I?" Tyrian replied, as if he was merely helping them with homework. "And the answer is the Queen's loyal subject! Her Gate of the Scorpion!"

" _Her_ Gate of the Scorpion—" Lucy's eyes went wide, recalling how he had said he was a fusion of a curse and a _warrior_ of heaven. "No. No, that's impossible."

Tyrian took a bow. "I'm afraid it is quite true, my lady. Lord Scorpio answered the Queen's call, as did all the Zodiac but the one sworn directly to Celestial King, and the Fairy who chose to wait. He, like they, gave himself to our cause, to the end of the wretched false gods! And thus, he lives on in me!"

"You… you… you're lying!" Lucy roared. She snatched another key from her belt. " **Open! Gate of the Maiden! Virgo!** "

Nothing.

" **Open! Gate of the Golden Bull! Taurus!** "

Nothing.

" **Open! Gate of the Giant Crab! Cancer!** "

Nothing!

" **Open! Gate of the Archer! Sagittarius!** "

Nothing but empty air.

Lucy's hand trembled in horror, her eyes pinned to the golden key, the lifeline to her friend, that refused to unlock the way.

"Lucy," Blake muttered.

"It's got to be something else, right?" The Celestial Spirit Wizard rationalized. "We're on Remnant. And you said the ethernano was low. That must be interfering. They're just having trouble getting to another world."

"Yeah, that must be it," Blake nervously concurred. "They're just having trouble getting to another world."

"Another world?" Tyrian chuckled. "My apologies, my lady. I was not aware you were still operating under such a foolish assumption. The Lord Ophiuchus always said you were smarter than Natsu Dragneel."

It was those words that caused her heart to stop. After everything that Lucy had experienced in the last few minutes of her life: The White Witch, the God Dragons' power, the Fairy Sphere, the bombardment, the living desert, her spirits apparently being dead, it was that name, and the implications behind it, that brought her world to a standstill.

"Natsu," Lucy murmured. "Where is he?! What did you do to him!?"

"Do to him? He is in the Queen's loving embrace, tended to by the Lord Ophiuchus. If you should desire, I will gladly take you to them right now," Tyrian replied, a psychotic grin splitting his face. "Of course, if you wish to continue with this misguided resistance, that is also agreeable. I have such rare occasion to release my true form. It would be a delight to indulge in some… exercise."

Blake gulped, glancing back at Lucy. "So, Wendy mentioned that you guys all got stronger since we last saw each other. What are our chances?"

Chances? What chances? Yes, she'd gotten far stronger than she was the last time she saw Team RWBY, enough to trade blows with the rest of the Strongest Team even if she still didn't think she could beat any of them, but that power came from her bonds with her spirits, her friends. If they were gone, if this Salem had taken them from her, then that same strength was gone. The stars were gone from her sky. Against this juggernaut of raw mystical power before them? There was no chance.

And yet, his master had Natsu.

Her eyes hardened and she dropped into a fighting stance. "Bring it on, ugly. I've squashed bigger bugs than you."

"Oh, what bravado!" Tyrian cheered. "But you must know you cannot win."

"We're going to win," Lucy declared.

Blake raised an eyebrow, hope dancing across her face. "We are?"

"You are?" Tyrian repeated, far more amused. "And just how are you going to do that?"

"I have no idea," Lucy confessed. "But we have to win."

"That doesn't mean you're going to," Tyrian noted. "Dreams have a habit of being crushed."

"That doesn't mean they can't be rebuilt. The path forward isn't always easy, and it isn't always happy, but that doesn't mean it isn't the right path!" Lucy roared. "So come on! I don't care how much stronger you are! We're going to win! We're going to find Natsu! And neither you or your goddess can stop us!"

" _Well spoken_."

Lucy's eyes widened, the familiar voice flashing through her mind like a crack of thunder. Her hope had risen up from the ashes just in time for one of her keys to start glowing a brilliant gold. A very specific key.

A joyful grin blossomed across the wizard's face.

Tyrian cackled and thrust both his stingers forward, a tidal wave of sand flooding towards the two Fairy Tail mages.

Blake leapt back and grabbed Lucy, respawning her black wings and soaring into the air. Even still, she wasn't fast enough, Tyrian's sand spiking into the heavens after them. The Black Fairy ducked and weaved around the incoming pillars, perhaps not as agile as Happy would have, but enough to keep the desert from piercing their flesh.

Of course, then the grains had taken on a familiar and dangerous orange glow.

"Blake!" Lucy called, snatching the shining key from her belt.

"Hang on!" Blake shouted, tightening her hold on her friend.

The sand pillars erupted in a cacophony of explosions, each blast hammering into the two fairies. They would have surely been knocked out of the air, if not for the fact that each time one of the shockwaves struck, they were replaced by ethereal copies that took the blow in their place. Blake's semblance really had improved since they last saw each other if she could make shadow clones of others as well. Unfortunately, given she'd had to do it half a dozen times in maybe ten seconds, it wasn't all that surprising when her aura started to flicker with purple flashes. Not broken yet, but heavily strained.

And given there was now a gigantic, swirling cloud of sand surrounding them and blocking off the entire sky, above, below, and on all sides, that was a distinct problem.

" **Sand Coffin!** " Tyrian cackled. " **Shredder!** "

The sand solidified into a solid spherical shell around the fairies, the grains constantly churning and riving, so fast that they seemed to merge into a single brown raging river. If it touched their flesh, it'd be like going through a meat grinder, one Blake's shadow clones could only take them deeper into.

"I thought Salem wanted us alive?" Lucy squealed.

"Alive," Blake said, cringing at their shrinking prison, the deadly walls coming ever closer. "I think we waived our right to 'unharmed' when we didn't go quietly."

Lucy's eyes narrowed, her grip on her key tightening, her magic only increasing its vibrant glow. "Then let's get louder. **Open! Gate of the Lion!** "

The chime of the Celestial Spirit World rang out and a blinding golden shine filled their vision. From within the light, a welcome, booming voice echoed through their ears.

"Blake, cover her!"

The Black Fairy did as commanded, her wings closing to form a shell of darkness around the Celestial Spirit Wizard. Without appendages to keep them airborne, they began to plummet straight towards the sand.

Fortunately, their ally would take care of that issue.

" _O lion of heaven, descend from on high and let your radiance purge the sinful!_ **Regulus Maelstrom!** "

Even from behind Blake's black wings, she glimpsed the shine, a brilliant glow teasing the edges of the barrier, even seeming to absorb a faint glimmer of the light. When the flash faded, Lucy peaked her head from beneath the feathers, her smile widening at the sight of the sand coffin blown away. It blossomed even more when she caught sight of the one responsible.

"Loke!" she cheered, Blake opening her wings and gliding them both safely back to the dunes, only to raise an eyebrow when the spirit smashed into the sand. "Loke?"

It was Loke, the green Fairy Tail emblem emblazoned on his back was undeniable proof of that. But she could _see_ his back, his elegant suit nowhere to be seen. In its place was a brilliant suit of plate armor that twinkled as if it were made of starlight, the window to his guildmark the only gap. His orange hair, now marred with streaks of grey, still had its distinctive lion ears, but its wild, ruffled air was gone, instead orderly combed and slicked back. The lion's mane was gone, but his eyes were harder than she'd ever seen them.

And they glared at Tyrian with the wrath of a thousand suns.

The Eclipse Etherious didn't seem to notice, as if anything would unsettle the madman. "Lord Leo? Have you come to honor your oath at last?"

Loke growled at the scorpion monster, Regulus blazing around his fists. "Blake, did you get the excess power?"

Blake dropped her wings and clenched her talons, a golden glow shimmering around the claws. The Black Fairy smirked. "Oh yes. It is so great to have power that isn't trying to make me psychotic again."

"It might not be enough," Loke warned. "It's going to take everything we have to put this bastard down."

"Then I better get dressed for the occasion," Lucy grinned, pressing the key to her chest.

Loke clutched her wrist. "You won't be able to recharge fast enough if you use a Star Dress."

"Fast enough?"

"We need _everything_."

Every—oh.

Everything.

"Got it," Lucy nodded.

"We'll hold him off," Blake declared. She rushed forward, Loke following behind, the light of Regulus surging forth to defend them Tyrian's churning sands and rapid-fire explosions.

In the meantime, Lucy gathered all the magic in her origin, scraping together what sparse fuel she could from the thin ethernano around her. She preferred having Gemini assist her when she needed to do this spell, but her training had long enabled her to perform it alone. She just didn't use it often due to both its immense cost and because those that could survive its wrath were few and far between. She had killed before. Even through her grief at the time, she recalled putting an end to Jackal of Tartaros, but it was not her first choice in any battle.

But against this goliath of a foe, it was their only chance.

" _Survey the Heavens, Open the Heavens. All the stars, far and wide_ …"

* * *

 **Originally, I thought this was going to be one big finale chapter for Blake's Volume 4 Arc, similar to the fight with Esper being such for Weiss. But then the flashback at the start ended up being far longer than I expected (I am firmly AU from 100 Year Quest now), and it started to shape in a way that trying to shove everything into one chapter would make it a slog on the pacing. So, the fight will conclude next chapter.**

 **An extra huge thank you to my patrons: Gregg Tracton, Annaya Chan, Keith Tracton, Nora Okonus, KefkaesqueXIII, Christian Howard, SanyaBane, Matthew Blevins, David Wayman, G-Unit91, and Primordial Paper.**

 **Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!**

 **Go Forth and Conquer!**


	36. Chapter 35

**Beta-ed by xenosaiyan**

* * *

Blake hadn't felt so invigorated since Earthland, the light of Regulus surging through her, lightening her muscles and filling her with courage. She spawned a Deathstalker's limbs in place of her arms and legs and scurried across the sands, Loke by her side as they made straight for Tyrian.

The Zodiac Spirit was different from the last time Blake had seen him, older, harsher, more focused. But the guildmark on his back confirmed that he was just as much her friend as he ever was. No matter how much power the laughing bastard had, they weren't going down without a fight.

That didn't mean the Gate of the Scorpion wasn't going to give it his best shot. The desert rose beneath him as he leapt into the fray, streams of sand snaking upward and streaking for the Fairy Tail wizards. Some were just simple spears to be ducked and avoided like any other weapons, but others glowed with the familiar shine of the Bomb Curse. The two attack variations were intertwined with each other, the bomb spires exploding at angles to blast the fairies into the piercing spines, or the spikes shooting out towards Lucy, forcing them to drop back and protect their friend, putting them just inside the range of the fire blasts. Mad the Eclipse Etherious may have been, he wasn't stupid. If he wasn't trying to take them alive, he could have just ignited the entire desert and watched them burn.

Fortunately, he had to restrain him from going that far if he wanted to please his goddess. And that, despite his towering strength, gave them opportunity.

Loke slammed his fists together, a brilliant golden light emanating between them. " **Regulus Gatling Impact!** "

A magic circle sprang to life before him and a dozen ethereal lion heads roared out from the sigil. The heavenly pride charged out into the night, tunnels of air trailing behind each of their shining manes. One after another, they slammed into the streams of sand, scattering the grains to the wind and stalemating the explosions with eruptions of their own glow. The entire barrage was obliterated, not a single spike coming near Lucy.

Obviously, Tyrian wasn't going to just sit still and let them defend her. While Loke was stationary warding off the desert assault, the Gate of the Scorpion wasted no time rushing in, both pincers and stingers lashing out to split him in two.

Fortunately, the clash of explosions and ash provided a perfect smokescreen for Blake to charge right into the monster's path, her claws aglow with her friend's power.

" **Regulus Pincer Thrust!** "

She stabbed forward with her scorpion claw arms, beams of golden energy streaking straight for Tyrian's head.

However, it appeared the Eclipse Etherious was a double-jointed gymnast in addition to a psycho. When the beams made for his chest, he bent over backwards, balancing on his damn tails as the beams barely glanced off his aura. He laughed like he was on a merry-go-round and sprayed a hail of bullets from his pincer blades, forcing Blake to duck to the side.

Soon, her foe gave chase, a storm of sand and fire on her tail.

"A thrilling display, my lady! You use Lord Leo's power well!" Tyrian called. "And yet still you hold yourself back! Scattered fragments are quite versatile, but they lack the power to see you through this battle."

Blake growled, but she couldn't exactly refute the point. Despite using Deathstalker legs on sand, she was barely avoiding the Gate's bombardment. Back when she'd been using her Full-Body Take-Over, she could have easily dodged the barrage and forced Tyrian to use his curse to its fullest. She didn't think she would be stronger than him in his current state, but you didn't need to be stronger than someone to beat them. Just fast enough to latch onto them before they could react and strong enough to break their neck. Though given her luck, she wouldn't be surprised if the bastard's neck rotated three-hundred and sixty degrees.

"Pardon me if I don't like becoming a mindless monster!" she shouted back, hoping that she might be able to distract him enough to take some heat off Loke and Lucy. "Some of us don't like to murder for thrills!"

Tyrian cocked an eyebrow. "Then why are you a huntress?"

Blake ducked another sand spire, only for it to explode and force her to use a shadow clone to keep from being blown away. Unfortunately, that left her stationery for the briefest instant, more than enough time for Tyrian to blur to her side, jets of sand gathering at the tips of his tails.

Only to receive a blast of Regulus straight to the jaw, actually staggering the demon.

"Don't listen to him, Blake!" Loke commanded, launching a follow-up swipe at their foe. "He's just a madman!"

Tyrian's stingers lashed out and wrapped themselves around Loke's armored arm, halting his blow in its tracks. With a swift flick, the Lion Spirit was sent tumbling across the sand. He managed to roll to his feet, but a golden light pulsed out from under his plate and ejected the fragments that their enemy had touched. They glowed orange and exploded half a second later.

" _Just_ a madman? You wound me, my lord. I am a loyal madman," Tyrian insisted, casually forcing back Blake with a wave of sand. "If I was not, you would all be dead. Whatever small lusts I have moment to moment, the Queen's will comes first."

"Yeah, it comes first," Blake snarled. "So much that you tossed the White Fang aside to join her."

"Of course. I went to them to do what I love, but in the end, I could barely stomach the hypocrisy. Fighting a war and expecting both sides to still be standing when it ends? Pah! You huntresses of Ozpin and we Gates of the Queen are a purer sort. Our conflict will only end when the enemy has been butchered at our own hand," Tyrian chuckled. "And if you don't enjoy what you do, you're in the wrong line of work."

Blake scowled. "A huntress isn't a killer."

"Of course they are! Grimm, human, or faunus, they all taste huntsmen steel eventually," Tyrian exclaimed. "The world is built by killers, willing to annihilate their enemies to defend what they love. The huntsmen destroy the Grimm. Fairy Tail destroyed Tartaros, and any others who would not become their allies. Even this world, our precious Remnant!" The Gate of the Scorpion lifted his arms to the shattered moon. "Born of a false god who would not tolerate insurrection."

He glanced over his shoulder as Loke rushed back in. "Which is why your sloth puzzles me, Lord Leo. You hold no love for the gods, even the one you were made to serve. Why do you not heed the Queen's call now that the rest of the Fairies have returned? The serpent I understand, she is sworn to the king, but like the rest of the twelve, your oath is to her grace."

Blake swiped in with her claws, Tyrian ducking under attack and rolling away when Loke unleashed another burst of Regulus.

The Lion Spirit snarled. "My oath is not to create a world of ashes."

Tyrian shook his head, almost saddened. "Such pessimism. The Queen has no intention of repeating the error of her previous approach. She has plans to make mankind a suitable weapon. After all, she is well aware of the combat capabilities of her allies."

The scorpion flicked his tail towards the edge of the battlefield, where Lucy's skin took on an ethereal white glow as she chanted. " _All_ of her allies."

Shit. Blake didn't know exactly what spell Lucy was working back there, but from how Loke had insisted she stay back from the fight and the spunky Celestial Wizard had agreed to it without complaint, she could surmise that it was their best shot at defeating Tyrian. The thin ethernano might have contributed to the extremely slow charge-up time, but even still, it would take an incredibly powerful bit of magic to require that much fuel.

And the Gate of the Scorpion was fully aware of that. He wanted to take them all alive, but he would stop going easy on them if he thought there was a chance they might actually emerge victorious.

It was only at that moment, and the memory of how casually he'd obliterated the Kuo Kuana wall, that Blake fully comprehended that the sandy hellscape they'd been subjected to had been their enemy 'going easy on them'.

A jet of sand burst from Tyrian's tail aimed straight for Lucy, an orange glow signifying that it was primed to explode. The Celestial Spirit Wizard hadn't had her aura unlocked, and though she was used to taking hard hits, any significant strike would still disrupt their winning spell. They couldn't let that happen.

Loke leapt at Tyrian, his constant glowing swipes keeping the Gate from unleashing another attack. Blake seized the opening and threw herself in front of the sand stream. She couldn't use a shadow clone to escape this blast, otherwise it'd just continue on its course and hit Lucy. She had to take it head-on.

She dipped down within the sea of darkness, the ooze of hatred and killing intent swallowing her up to her chin. She wondered if she should let it rise even further, let it drown her and gain the full strength at her fingertips. But whatever her theories, whatever her thoughts on possible equilibrium, she couldn't risk it now. If she couldn't control her Full-Body form, then she might attack Lucy herself.

She'd have to work with what she had.

Deathstalker armor, thick and strong, layered over her arms and lower waist. She pushed her aura to the forefront, boosting the natural toughness of the plates. And just when the sand was about to strike, she poured the strength her friend had gifted her out into its path. The Celestial power swirled around the essence of the Grimm, unable to truly mix, like oil and water, neither was being repelled by the other. It would have to be enough.

" **Regulus Umbral Aegis!** "

The light of the lion star threw itself out first, the spiral of sand ramming straight through the defense but slowed just enough so that when the blast impacted Blake's armored arms, it didn't punch straight through. She held her ground, the Deathstalkers plates and pincers standing strong against the grains' onslaught. And when the explosion rippled through the air, she was only blown back a few feet.

This was fine. She'd held strong, the attack was halted. Now she just needed to get back in there with Loke for just a bit longer—

" **Hellstorm Spiral: Tower!** "

Tyrian plunged his hands to the ground, his curse rushing throughout the dunes. Loke lunged for him, but the Gate of the Scorpion moved faster, swiping his hands through the air. As if he struck the keys of a grand piano, a crescendo of heat and death swept up from the desert floor, an explosive symphony reaching up to the heavens.

Blake and Loke went flying, ash and burn scars coating their bodies. The cat faunus tumbled across the sand, her muscles flaring with agony. She struggled to rise to her knees, only to crash back into the sand. If her aura wasn't completely broken, she'd be surprised if she had any more than a percent remaining. And since she didn't see a very angry ginger Celestial Spirit jumping back into the fray and a few scattered golden sparks were twinkling in the night air, she could only assume her guildmate had been injured enough to force him back to his own world. Which meant there was no one left between Tyrian and Lucy.

She glanced over to her blonde friend, relieved to find her untouched by the blast. Without aura, it would have turned her to dust, a fact Tyrian was likely well aware of. But that didn't mean he wouldn't beat her black and blue to make sure she didn't resist.

They needed time, as much as they could get, as much as it would take for Lucy's spell to go off. But she couldn't stand, Loke was gone, and the only way she could possibly get more power was… was…

One way, Lucy might be hurt. The other way, Lucy would _definitely_ be hurt.

There was no choice. She and Tyrian had both left the White Fang to devote themselves to new causes. But he had joined Salem because she let him kill anyone he liked. She had chosen to become a huntress when she could no longer stomach Adam's bloodthirst. They were both traitors, drawn away from their original cause by their own ideals, gaining some new ones along the way. Perhaps he was even right that killing was a necessary step to defend those ideals at times.

He was wrong about her though. She did not _enjoy_ killing. Even if her duty as a huntress required it, truly required it, she would never enjoy taking another's life. She would never enjoy stepping into shadows.

But if it meant saving her friends, she would do what she must. Whatever her ideals, she would risk anything to protect them. Even her soul.

She took a deep breath and sank into darkness.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

Tyrian did so enjoy his work.

Hazel had no love of combat, Lord End's powers were too dangerous for training, and to distract the Queen from her work would be an inexcusable sin, so he was seldom able to unleash the power of his Etherious Form on anyone. But between Chieftain Belladonna inviting a large scale display of his powers and Lord Leo and Lady Blake's up-close, more technically challenging duel, he was getting an excellent workout this night. It would have already classified as one of the best days he'd had in a while even if he wasn't going to top it off by reuniting his goddess with two of her old friends. Possibly even a third if Lady Lucy summoned Lord Leo once they'd made it back to the Grimmlands.

Oh, glorious day! After he had secured the candidates, he could even indulge himself in burning Kuo Kuana to the ground. Such fun!

But duty came before joy, and he still had one more fairy to deal with, debatably the most dangerous of them all.

" _Oh Tetrabiblos, I am the ruler of the stars…_ "

Tyrian grinned as he bared down on Lady Lucy, the glow of her skin beginning to turn from white to gold. She may have been the weakest of the Strongest Team, but the Queen had impressed to them all that such a fact did not make her weak. Give her an opening, and she could be the most dangerous of them all. Even now, he only hesitated due to the knowledge that she had no aura. If he struck hastily, he could kill her, and failing his goddess so drastically would be a fate worse than death.

But as the ultimate magic of the stars grew closer to completion, he could ill afford caution. One solid strike would shatter the complex weaves of magic she needed to build, and he could deal with her otherwise at his leisure. Such was the power of a Gate of the Queen—

"Heads up, asshole!"

What?

Tyrian whirled around, his attention drawn by, of all things, a speeding military truck racing across the dune. On a direct collision course with him.

Ugh. How irritating.

The five-ton vehicle slammed into his side, its drivers, Sun Wukong and Ilia Amitola, leaping from its cockpit just as the compartment crumpled. Tyrian staggered a full foot, disgraceful but unavoidable given the loose footing of the sand, before the engine ground to a halt before his strength. However, he was hardly harmed, his aura was barely even scratched.

Which was more than he could say for those fools who'd thought to challenge him in the midst of his duty.

As soon as Wukong and Amitola landed on the dunes, the young faunus drew their weapons, unleashing a hail of dust rounds and electrified whips strikes upon their opponent. Tyrian merely rolled his eyes.

With one hand, the Gate of the Scorpion hefted the truck up by its chassis, the glow of his curse swallowing the metal. With the ease that another might swing a baseball bat, he hurled the vehicle at the two faunus. The pair scrambled to escape, but with the momentum Tyrian had put behind it, they didn't stand a chance. The military hauler plowed through the warriors before exploding right in their faces.

The monkey and the chameleon's auras died with a brief flicker, their smoking and burned bodies laid out across the melted black sand. Only the subtle twitches of their limbs and the soft moans escaping their lips confirmed they still breathed.

"You come to 'defend' the ones you call friends," Tyrian remarked. "The Queen would praise your devotion. But without magic, without power, it means nothing. The loyalty of the weak is worthless."

Which is why the goddess, in her infinite wisdom and generosity, would raise them up.

"No friendship is worthless! _Open thy malevolent gate! Oh, eighty-eight stars of the heaven!_ "

Tyrian's eyes widened, his form instantly drawn back to his target. The faunus' attack had done him no real damage, but it had drawn his attention for the briefest of moments.

And as Lady Lucy's eyes opened and her gaze hardened on him, dozens of colorful spheres each shining with the true majesty and wonder of the heavens orbiting around her, he knew it had been a moment too long.

He charged. Even as he knew it would do no good, he charged. No matter the pain, no matter the suffering, he could not fail his Queen.

Lady Lucy's arms thrust forward. " _Shine!_ **Urano Metria!** "

The stars around her surged forward, eighty-eight celestial bodies blazing with the power of the stars, the heart of the universe unleashing its wrath upon the Gate of the Scorpion. Glorious lights of every color imaginable shined throughout the night sky, for a brief moment painting a rainbow over the blackness.

The stars rammed into Tyrian, plowing him back through the desert. One after another, over and over again, without respite or pause, they struck him, like a celestial gatling gun. With each blow, agony shot through the former scorpion faunus, the likes he hadn't felt since his ascension. By the end of the second cycle, his aura had shattered like glass. His vision went dark, a waterfall of blood soaking his eyes.

And yet, even as his body itself bore the full brunt of the onslaught, even as his muscles screeched in pain and his organs collapsed under the force, he held on. The pain truly was equal to that he had suffered under the oversight of the old Ascension Chamber, his entire essence being torn apart molecule by molecule. But he had endured that, endured it for one reason alone, the same reason he'd endured everything for the last decade.

For the will of their _goddess_!

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

 **Kill!**

 **kIlL!**

 **KiLl!**

 **Kill them all!**

 _Blake! Breathe! Let it flow through you! Turn it into your—_

"Be quiet!"

…

 **Crush her! CULL her! DesTrOy!**

"I said be quiet! I meant both of you!"

 **DEstRoY!**

 **cULl!**

 **KILL!**

 **KILL the humans! Kill—**

"I won't… I will. We will."

"Together."

 **YES! The duty to our lord! CULL!**

 **DESTROY!**

 **KILL!**

"… kill. Kill."

 **KILL!**

"Kill… the one who would kill my friends."

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

Lucy always got a rush when she cast Urano Metria. Unfortunately, the same strength that came from lightning running through her also came with the _immense exhaustion_ of having had lightning run through her.

The Celestial Spirit Wizard sank to her knees, heaving as the glow faded from her skin. The ultimate magic of the stars required a massive amount of power and precise spellcraft to handle such strength, so it always left her exhausted, but this time she felt like she was two steps away from magic deficiency disease. Blake hadn't been kidding when she said the ethernano was thin.

Still, as the Fairy Tail wizard glanced around the ashen battlefield, it was depressing to find that she was in the best condition of the combatants. Loke had been injured enough that he'd been forced to return to the Celestial Spirit World (she'd wait until he'd had some time to recover before summoning him back and interrogating him about what the hell was going on), and Blake was nowhere to be seen, probably hiding in some unseen shadow while nursing the wounds she'd taken from the battle. Those two people who'd driven the truck, faunus as well going by the blond one's monkey tail, had been laid out across the sand, alive, but heavily injured.

Of course, considering what she'd done to their opponent, 'heavily injured' was a term that required some perspective.

Tyrian, somehow, still stood, or at least his limp body did. At the bottom of a crater of ash, the scorpion did not move, his knees locked beneath him and his arms hanging limp at his sides. Swaths of his skin were coated in a sea of his own blood, pouring out of horrid gashes torn across his body. What little flesh remained outside the crimson matting was covered in dark, ugly bruises, his blank eyes hidden by bangs of his own hair. The mechanical pincers he'd worn on his forearms had been completely obliterated, his twin stingers in little better condition, the mechanical one having been blasted clean off while the more natural-looking appendage held on by a thin slip of muscle.

Lucy pushed down a bubbling of vomit that rose in her throat. The Eclipse Etherious may have been her enemy, but still. The only time she'd ever seen the aftermath of Urano Metria had been when Hibiki had first helped her cast a weakened version against Sorano. She knew the full power spell had killed Jackal of Tartaros, but… she'd tried to use this on Flare at Grand Magic Games.

She… she'd thought of herself as weak compared to her friends for so long that she'd forgotten just how much power she was capable of unleashing. And just how much care she needed to exercise to use that power responsibly. She'd had no choice against Tyrian, but against a different opponent… she had to be sure. She had to be sure that it was her only option. To protect her friends, she'd do what she had to, but… no one deserved to suffer something like that.

She forced herself to crawl over to the monkey faunus boy, lightly shaking him, causing his eyes to flicker open.

"Are you alright?" she gently inquired. "Can you stand?"

"Ugh… no. That's a definite no…" the boy groaned, hacking out a round of coughs. "You… you're Fairy Tail, right?"

Lucy nodded, lifting her hand to show her pink guildmark.

The blond boy smiled. "Heh. Blake said you guys were badass. Guess I should have known better than to doubt it after Wendy…ugh… sorry we got in the way."

"You didn't," Lucy assured him, taking her limp hand in her own. "If you two hadn't distracted him when you did, I wouldn't have had enough time to complete the spell."

"Really? Huh," the boy chuckled. "Dancing monkey to the rescue with his snarky chameleon sidekick."

Lucy couldn't help but laugh at the remark. The young faunus was lucky to be alive and yet he'd brought a smile to her face. Impressive. But also…

"Wendy," she whispered. "You know Wendy? Is she here?"

"She's with Ruby and her uncle," the monkey faunus explained. "Blake can tell you the rest after… scorpion!"

Lucy felt the surge in magic at the same time as his shout. She looped her arms around the blond boy and rolled out of the way just as a stream of sand smashed through their previous position. Hundreds of grains shredded her right arm, but she was able to shield her ally long enough to whirl around and get a new look at their enemy.

"No," she murmured. "That's impossible. How can you still be alive?"

"For the Queen," Tyrian moaned, an unearthly timbre overlaying his voice. "For the Queen. For the Queen. _For the Queen._ **For the Queen!** "

He shambled onward, his body broken and leaking a waterfall of blood, only a swirling tornado of sand lifting his dangling stinger into position. His locked knees refused to unhinge, forcing him to limp up out of his crater instead of his previous lightning-fast charges. His soaked hair parted, revealing a pair of glossed over, unblinking eyes. He may have survived, but he could hardly be called alive anymore.

Still, Loke and Blake were gone, the monkey and chameleon faunus were helpless, and Lucy couldn't even stand, her origin completely emptied of power. She sucked in new ethernano as fast as she could, but there just wasn't enough of it in the air. Brutalized and crippled as he was, Tyrian was still the strongest person on the battlefield.

The Celestial Spirit Wizard grit her teeth and forced herself to upright. Even if she couldn't get off her knees, she wasn't going to let this bastard hurt anyone else. She'd meant what she'd said. No matter how much stronger their enemy was, she and her friends were going to win.

And if the surge of magic she felt beneath the sand was any indication, that faith wasn't going to go unrewarded.

Right in front of Tyrian, the desert floor erupted. Sand flew everywhere as a black monstrosity rose from beneath the ground, shrieking like a demon out of hell. Its plate armor and massive pincers made it resemble the Grimm Lucy had seen when she'd first arrived, but the moment it touched open air, its dark form shifted, dissolving into a mercurial black mud figure before solidifying into a different being, even more terrifying than the last.

The plate armor was gone, replaced by rippling, muscled hide coated in layered smaller scales. From its back extended out a pair of leathery crimson wings, punctured with ragged holes, but still easily strong enough to fly. Where legs might have been was instead a thick serpentine tail, jagged bone spines jutting out from its sides every foot or so. The crowning jewel rested atop the beast's face however, an elaborate white mask in the visage of a dragon, hungry red eyes glaring out from its slits. And crackling yellow electricity building in its maw.

What followed was a blur, a black mirage that disappeared in-between eye blinks. The creature latched itself onto Tyrian, wrapping its truck around his bloody body and wrenching his jaw open with its claws. Even through his deranged madness, the Gate of the Scorpion's eyes widened, an orange glow coating the Grimm creature flesh even as spikes of sand flew in from all around them.

It wasn't fast enough. The draconic beast roared, and a surge of lightning erupted from its mouth, drilling down Tyrian's throat. The Eclipse Etherious howled in agony before going silent, at which point the storm of electricity crashed clean out his back and finished the job of melting off his remaining tail.

Then another explosion rang out and Lucy had to put her hands over her eyes and her body over the monkey faunus to shield them both from the blast.

When the smog faded and she could see again, Lucy glanced around and breathed a sigh of relief when she spotted the chameleon faunus girl no more harmed than she had been a moment before. She must have been out of range of the blast.

"Blake," the monkey murmured, his blue eyes scanning the desert. "Where's Blake?"

Blake? Right, that creature that had killed Tyrian, it had felt sort of like a Celestial Spirit. She didn't know much about Grimm, but she was fairly certain they couldn't change shape from a scorpion to a dragon mid-fight. But Blake could, if she had absorbed both forms previously. But if she was capable of using a Full-Body Take-Over, why hadn't she done that from the beginning of the fight? A creature's essence when it was whole was magnitudes stronger than any individual piece.

A low, creeping snarl reminded Lucy that there were other risks to allowing another being such influence on one's mind. Risks that had shattered the Strauss family for years.

Lucy turned and she saw her friend emerge from the smoke, Blake's draconic form slinking across the sand, its fangs still barred.

"Heh, Sea Feilong," the monkey boy chuckled nervously. "Told you it'd be awesome. Right, Blake? Blake?... Blake?"

The Grimm-hybrid stalked ever closer, sparks dancing across its jaws. The monkey boy's eyes widened, his breaths becoming short and ragged.

Lucy placed a hand over his chest, calming his frantic lungs. Then, she steeled her face and forced herself to her feet. She wobbled, her muscles still heavy like stones, but she held herself tall, refusing to flinch even as Blake approached.

"I have faith in you, Blake," she declared, fully aware that Lisanna was nearly killed saying a similar thing to her brother. If one couldn't find equilibrium in a Full-Body Take-Over, then they would lose themselves to the instincts of the creature they were utilizing.

But if the choice was between running for her life and believing in her friend, then there was no choice at all. Because her life was in no danger from a Fairy Tail wizard.

The Grimm-hybrid took in a deep breath, lightning crackling amidst its maw. But when it breathed out, no tempest was unleashed. Instead, a rush of black smoke was released from its form, floating across the desert.

When it cleared, Blake had returned, cute little cat ears and all. The black-haired faunus panted but managed a small smile towards her friends. "Thank you."

Lucy mirrored her grin. "Always."

That was about as much as either of them could manage. The fairies swayed back and collapsed in a heap beside the monkey boy, their bodies completely spent. And yet, they couldn't help but break out into a round of laughter. They were beaten. They were battered. They were utterly exhausted.

But they had won.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

She had known something was wrong when Blake had forcibly shut off their connection. She could still sense her old friend's general location, but she wouldn't be able to speak to her through mental link if the cat faunus did not allow it.

When the return light of Neo-Hell's Core had flashed purple, her fears were confirmed.

She dismissed Cinder and the others from their training for the day and made her way down to her laboratory. The rows upon rows of test tubes and glass cylinders containing experimental mutant Grimm species or soulless demonic shells held no interest to her at the moment, her full attention drawn to the shapeless mass of darkness swirling within the Gate of the Scorpion's respawn tank.

A few moments later, Tyrian's jagged yellow eyes manifested over the shadows, focused and furious. "YYYYYAAAARrrgggghhhhh! That bitch! I'll rip out her thr—"

"You will do _what_ ," Salem interrupted, her voice as cold as ice and her gaze as impassable as stone.

In an instant, the fury left Tyrian's eyes, the scant features pressing themselves to the floor of the capsule in supplication. "Your grace, your grace, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, forgive me, _please_ forgive me…"

"Tyrian," the Queen commanded once more, his silence coming immediately. "You fell… to Blake? How… unexpected."

"No—Not just Lady Blake," her friend stammered, hope blossoming in his eyes. "There was a Fairy Sphere on the island. She is free, the key to the second half of your design."

"Lucy?"

"Yes! The last and greatest of the Celestial Spirit Wizards walks Remnant!"

Salem could not contain the flash of joy that ghosted across her face. After so many millennia of searching, of scheming to tear the Relic of Knowledge from Mistral and have Jinn reveal the locations hidden from her, now, at last, had her patience been rewarded. When she'd learned Team RWBY had at last reached the point when she could send them back, she had prayed that her friends would find the prisons she could not on her own. And as End would say, fairies attract fairies, and her faith had not gone unanswered.

"Have—have I done well?" Tyrian inquired fearfully, but with a tinge of joy in his voice. "Have I… pleased you?"

Salem's smile died, her gaze hardening as lava became rock. True, Lucy's return filled her heart with pleasure, but that did not mean she could ignore the facts of the mission. Most importantly, that both she and Blake _weren't there_.

"You disappoint me," she declared.

Tears flooded down from Tyrian's eyes over nonexistent cheeks, a heartrending wail of sorrow piercing the air of the Grimmlands.

Salem shuffled over to the tanks' controls and sighed. It wasn't that she sought to cause him pain. But she'd learned the ins and outs of her friends over the years and how best to help each of them perform to the best of their abilities. Tyrian sought to please her above all, so telling him that she was happy that he'd completely bungled his task would only make him laxer in the future. Better to be honest about her disappointment and give him motivation to reevaluate his handling of the situation than potentially let his bloodlust get out of control.

Still, as she managed the mystical machine and began forging her Gate of the Scorpion's new body, she couldn't help but ponder what _had_ gone wrong. From what she could tell, Tyrian had done everything right, been perfectly polite and even saved Blake's parents from the Albain brothers' scheming. Why had she chosen to fight him so readily?

The answer came to her quickly, as it always did because it was almost always correct. The one who must have set her friends against her, perhaps without even realizing it. The one who had poisoned all her endeavors for the last eon. The one she had once called husband and, before that, love.

"Ozpin," she growled, the Grimm outside the castle screeching into the sky at her rage. They'd all love to tear her to shreds, but the mutation she'd suffered bathing in the God of Darkness' mud gave her a degree of influence over the Umbral Spirits similar to that she held over her own people. If she left the castle, they'd swarm in to annihilate Neo-Hell's Core and the rest of her facilities. Summer and Arthur were working on setting up a backup laboratory and core in Atlas, but such a labor would take time. Until they were ready, she would simply have to trust the retrieval of her friends to her circle.

She had waited so long for this, to be reunited with Fairy Tail. She could wait a bit longer. No wizard could stand in her way.

* * *

 **I took a lot of inspiration from FMAB's Mustang vs. Lust for this fight. The Gates are engines of mass destruction, each one far too powerful for any of our heroes to take on alone. But our heroes are not alone. And that means their foes are not invincible.**

 **An extra huge thank you to my patrons: Gregg Tracton, Annaya Chan, Keith Tracton, Nora Okonus, KefkaesqueXIII, Christian Howard, SanyaBane, Matthew Blevins, David Wayman, G-Unit91, and Primordial Paper.**

 **Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!**

 **Go Forth and Conquer!**


	37. Chapter 36

**Beta-ed by xenosaiyan**

* * *

" _Thank you, Sir Ozma! Truly, we are in your debt!"_

" _Oh no, it's perfectly alright. Leo's an old friend, and this is what I do after all," Ozma insisted, his eyes looking not at Virgo who was addressing him, but the blonde woman who was running her glowing palms across his chest, healing magic seeping into his fractured bones and torn muscles. Perhaps it was that warm mending feeling rushing through his nerves, but despite all the many wondrous maidens he'd met in his life, she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen._

 _Granted, he had just watched her vaporize an archdemon and flatten a castle. Hard to get more attractive than that._

" _Virgo is right," the angel of the stars said, a frown marring her luminous features. "If you hadn't come when you had, I don't know what would have happened. He might have turned me into his own personal attack dog."_

 _Leo placed a comforting hand on the woman's shoulder. "We would have never let that happen."_

 _Virgo, tears welling in her eyes, prostrated herself on her knees before her sovereign. "Princess, I am so, so sorry. I am your maidservant, and I failed to keep you from harm. I will accept any punishment you deem necessary."_

" _What? No, no, you did nothing wrong, Virgo," the woman assured her, pulling the Maiden Spirit back to her feet. "This… this was my own fault. My own stupidity."_

" _Curiosity is not stupidity, my dear daughter," a new voice comforted._

 _Ozma and all present gazed up to the horizon, Leo and Virgo falling to one knee at the image of a being the Time Wizard had only seen in books before. Taking up the entire skyline was the ghostly image of a gigantic armored man with an utterly magnificent white mustache, the night sky itself forming his cape. He may not have been physically present, such a thing would require a proper summoning, but the Celestial Spirit King sure knew how to make an entrance._

 _The blonde woman glanced away, ashamed. Tears welled in her sapphire eyes. "Father… I am so, so sorry—"_

" _Don't start, my dear Sitara. The fly is not to be blamed for being drawn to honey," the King interceded, his voice soft and comforting even as it boomed across the heavens. Soon, a furious scowl crossed his ancient visage. "The Underworld King is to blame for this."_

 _Sitara's hands clenched into fists. "I doubt Mard is dead. He told me of a machine he'd been working on that could return one of his kind from death. He was brash, but not a fool. He likely has one of his 'Hell's Cores' secreted away at some other hideout."_

" _Bringing demons back from the dead? Great," Ozma muttered, shaking his head. "As if killing them wasn't hard enough already. Don't suppose you've got any ideas where his hideout might be? If I'm lucky, I can hit him before he's fully recovered from that beating you gave him."_

 _A smirk crossed Sitara's lips. "I'd gladly give him another if you can find him."_

" _The matter of the Underworld King can be dealt with after you are safe at home," the King proclaimed. "Please, Sitara. I just need to know you're safe."_

 _The blonde woman opened her mouth, but clamped it shut at the last second, a guilty look overtaking her face. "I'm sorry, father. I'll return at once. I should have never left home in the first place."_

 _The King sighed. "Better company would have been preferable. Don't worry, my dear. One day, your key will be found by one who is both strong enough to use it, and kind enough to wield it wisely. And you, Ozma."_

 _Ozma stood a little straighter, quietly praying that the cosmic being hadn't noticed him ogling his daughter. "Your grace?"_

" _Thank you," the King said. "Thank you so much for what you've done here today."_

" _Oh," the wizard replied. "No problem."_

" _It was a great problem. That you solved," Sitara told him, shooting him a smile tinged with starlight. "Thank you, Sir Ozma."_

 _Said legendary hero felt his face heating up. No doubt if he could see himself, there'd be a deep blush across his cheeks. At least, that was his guess from the nudge Leo gave him, a playful smirk on his old friend's face._

 _Sitara turned back to her father. "Gate of the Princess,_ _ **Close**_ _."_

 _A golden gleam began to shimmer over her body, one that Ozma had seen come over Leo whenever his parents had sent him home. When it faded, the princess would be back in the Celestial Spirit World safe and sound._

 _Except when the gleam died, she was still there!_

" _Why am I still here?" Sitara exclaimed._

" _Because I will not allow you to contaminate one of my realms."_

 _The waning sunset died, and storm clouds rumbled over the heavens, obscuring even the Celestial Spirit King. Ozma summoned his staff to his hand, ready for a fight with whatever thing was powerful enough to do such a thing._

 _At least until he got a look at his Celestial Spirit allies, whose eyes were all wide with terror, their noble and shining faces pale with dread. He soon saw why._

 _He appeared within flashes of lightning and cracks of thunder. A man of black shadow and vibrant light, the two contrasts constantly warring with each other across his body, like a rolling tempest contained in the form of a person. A person with no eyes or mouth, who's only distinguishing features were a pair of protrusions atop his head, one a deer's antler, the other a ram's curved horn. The tremor of sheer, instinctual power that emanated off the being would have frozen the wizard in place even if he hadn't recognized the being from certain religious texts he'd uncovered while researching Zeref's demons._

" _Ankhseram." Ozma whispered, his staff falling from his grip._

 _The God of Creation and Destruction, Life and Death, paid him no mind, his face locked onto the Celestial Spirits. Leo made to step in front of Sitara, but she held him back. Unfortunately, that meant Virgo was given a clear avenue to rush in front of her fellows and prostrate herself before the divine being._

" _My lord, Great Crafters of Heaven and Hell, please have mercy upon my lady," the maid begged. "If you must punish someone, let it be me!"_

" _No!" Sitara shouted, ramming past Leo and throwing herself over Virgo. "I ran off! There was nothing she could have done—"_

" _Silence."_

 _It was a single word, not even shouted, or reverberated in any way one would expect from the divine. But when spoken by the first of the gods, its effect was instantaneous._

" _You will not be punished, Maiden Spirit," he proclaimed. "There will be no punishment. Princess Sitara shall be barred from the Celestial Spirit World to prevent her contamination from spreading."_

" _Contamination?" The Celestial Spirit King murmured, for even he trod lightly in the presence of his master. "My lord, if she remains on Earthland, she will die."_

" _False, my old servant," Ankhseram revealed. "The same affliction that I have exiled her for shall allow her to live out a full life on this world. She is half-Etherious now. And Zeref's heresy must be quarantined here."_

" _What?" Ozma muttered, his eyes widening. Half-Etherious? Half demon and half Celestial Spirit? Had that been what Mard Geer had done to her? How was that even possible?_

" _The abomination that was created by Zeref sought to do as its master did: to break the laws of this universe. To upend the cycle of life and death. To obliterate a curse of punishment instead of serving out its terms," the god sneered. "Your recklessness, princess, allowed him to turn you into a wretched creature in turn. He could have even planned for you to return to your home and made preparations to have his influence spread without your knowledge. Such a risk to the Celestial and Umbral Worlds cannot be taken."_

" _My lord, please," the Celestial Spirit King beseeched. "We will take precautions. You have my word, if there is any danger it shall not spread."_

" _It shall not. As my word has decreed."_

" _But it's my home!" Sitara protested. "My family is there! My lord, you are the Crafters of Heaven, Hell, and Earth, Master of Life and Death, surely there is something that you can do?"_

 _Ankhseram's head tilted to the side. "If you desire a more permanent solution…"_

 _The god snapped his fingers and the plain beside the party disappeared. The field of grass, as far as the eye could see, was turned to darkness, a sea of black mud bubbling with hellish energy, wisps of dark smoke drifting into the sky._

 _Ozma's eyes widened, the great hero taking an involuntary step back as a bead of sweat dripped down his face. "What… what is that?"_

" _A manifestation portal," Leo gulped, his body trembling. "One that huge… it could only be him."_

" _Him? Him who?"_

" _No!" The Celestial Spirit King roared. "My lord, you can't!"_

 _Ankhseram turned back to his servant's holographic self, his head slanted in confusion. "I would not ask you to destroy your own creation. If exile is not preferred, your counterpart is more than capable of the necessary extermination."_

" _Extermin—what?!" Ozma exclaimed._

 _His fear, though still present, vanished from his body and he rushed to the forefront of them all, glaring up at the divine being before him. "You can't do that! None of this is her fault!"_

" _Whether it is her fault or not is irrelevant," Ankhseram declared. "The world must be taken as it is, not as one would like it to be."_

" _Sounds like a load of crap coming from you!" Ozma shouted. "You're the fucking god of gods!"_

" _And thus, I must exercise the most control of all, for the laws I set down cannot be undone. Nor the punishments I have set for attempting to break them," the god turned to Sitara. "There are only two options here, princess. Exile or extermination. The choice is yours."_

" _That's not a choice!" Ozma roared. "It's an ultimatum! It's cruel!"_

" _It is—"_

" _It is cruel," the Celestial Spirit King echoed, his eyes glaring at his master like supernovas. "You became one to become more perfect, to rule more justly, but all you have done is become cruel."_

 _Ankhseram froze, just for a moment. But in that time, a deep, creepy chuckle rose from the black mud pit._

" _How shameful of you, twinkling bastard," the new voice chastised. A gigantic clawed hand, armored in pale white bone, shot up from the depths. "You dare insult my master when he has made himself one with yours? I suppose that rat's nest you call facial hair has eaten your mind."_

 _The Celestial King growled but did not respond. There was little he could do trapped in his own realm._

 _Ankhseram hefted his gaze back on Sitara. "Decide, princess."_

 _Sitara's hands were clenched at her sides, her shoulders shaking as tears streamed down her face. Virgo clutched her tight, but neither the maiden nor the lion could provide an antidote for the force of nature before them._

" _Exile," the blonde woman whispered. "I choose exile."_

" _Very good."_

 _The God of Life and Death waved his hand and the entire plain returned to as it was before. The night sky cleared of storm clouds and the mud pit, and what laid beneath it, disappeared. Even Leo, Virgo, and the spectral form of the Celestial Spirit King were gone, the stars returned to their proper place in the heavens._

 _Leaving their angel to languish on earth._

" _You are the Princess of the Stars no longer. The immortality I gifted to match your father's is no more," Ankhseram revealed. "I wish you well in your life on this world."_

" _How comforting," Ozma snarled._

 _At last, the figure of gold and black turned his head towards the time wizard, his head tilted to the side. "You have given me a great deal to consider, human. Perhaps certain ventures of consolidation have proven themselves… ineffective."_

 _With that, he was gone, deserted them between eye blinks._

 _Sitara fell to her knees, her arms wrapped around herself. Her chest heaved shallow breaths; her cheeks painted wet from the flood of her sobs. No more tears came however, her ducts clogged from the demands of her despair._

 _Ozma wanted to say somehow, some righteous declaration that he would somehow, someway, fix this horrid travesty, something that would make the cataclysmic blow this poor woman had suffered just a little bit easier. Something a hero would say._

 _But… he couldn't think of it. He couldn't think of anything that could possibly help. So… he said nothing. He just moved over and sat beside her, letting her heave just a fraction of her sorrow out._

 _Eventually, when the sun rose anew the next morning, she finally collapsed, utterly spent, a fallen angel stranded in the dirt she'd been condemned to._

 _Ozma sighed, his eyes heavy with exhaustion, rubbing his temples to keep himself awake. He took the blonde woman in his arms and started down the road. He may have been a pretty useless hero, but the least he could do was get her a proper bed to sleep in._

 _He could at least do that._

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

"It could have been worse. It could have been _much_ worse."

Blake sighed, but couldn't find any fault in her father's statement. More than half the Menagerie Guard had been wiped out and the main wall now had a sizable hole in it but considering Tyrian could have burnt down the entire city if given the opportunity, everything had gone about as well as they could have hoped.

Fortunately, the little Deathstalker massacre the Gate of the Scorpion had indulged in had wiped out the closest pack of Grimm, so they had a bit of time to rebuild their defenses. Which they would desperately need since the firestorm of the previous night had not gone unnoticed by the rest of Kuo Kuana, nor were the families of the deceased guardsmen suddenly capable of not feeling grief for their slain kin. The negativity would draw the creatures of darkness in eventually, and the wall needed to be rebuilt before they arrived. Her father, gifted politician that he was, had managed to rally a crew of volunteers to supplement the effort.

Of course, the process was somewhat complicated when a good chunk of the civilian volunteers spent less time working and more time staring at… well, Lucy.

"Hey, guys! Do you need help lifting this big heavy beam?" the Fairy Tail wizard asked. She skipped over to the faunus struggling to lift a large steel I-beam and, with one hand, hefted it above her head. She gritted her teeth but kept up her smile as she carried the metal to where it was needed, completely unaware of the numerous stares locked on her back. Or the sway in her hips.

"Man, I can't tell if they're looking at her because they're surprised there's a human here, or because they think she's being insensitive?" Sun, half his body wrapped in bandages and limping on crunches, remarked.

"Or that she's hot," Ilia, both her arms in casts, said. When Blake, Ghira, and Sun all turned and looked at her, she coughed and glanced away. "You know… for a human."

Blake smirked and cocked an eyebrow. "I think she's just excited. I'm not sure exactly how strong Lucy's gotten since I last saw her, but she never had any casual super strength when I was on Earthland."

Sun chuckled. "I guess aura does have some benefits compared to magic."

"Some."

"Well, neither aura or magic is going to fill up your stomachs," the quartet whirled around to see Kali striding out of the encampment made just off the construction site. Blake's mother raised a pot into the air and started banging the bottom with a ladle. "Lunch break everyone! Come on! Fill up your stomachs or the Grimm will fill up on you!"

It was a tad dark, but with the situation as potentially dangerous as it was, people needed to be reminded that working themselves to the bone wouldn't help. Menagerie was a desert and collapsing from hunger or dehydration in hundred-degree heat wouldn't help build the wall any faster.

The volunteer crew filed into a line across from another volunteer crew of cooks and collected their sandwiches, the various faunus chatting amiably as they munched on their food and downed their water. Meanwhile, Blake's party sat down by the shade to discuss matters more important than lunch.

Well, also lunch.

"Yum, thank you so much, Mrs. Belladonna," Lucy said, finishing off a tuna salad sandwich and reaching for another. "This is delicious!"

"Thank you," Kali smiled. "Though after everything you did for Blake and what's happened since you arrived here, a little food is the least we can do."

Ilia raised an eyebrow. "Though from what she told us you weren't quite so… ravenous?"

Lucy paused her hand right before she piled the next sandwich into her mouth and chuckled, a pink blush running over her checks. "Heh, I guess you work like Natsu and Erza and you get an appetite like them."

She smashed the sandwich between her hands, her eyes sparkling. "But as a _super-strong_ member of Fairy Tail, I have to stay at the top of my game!"

A bead of sweat dropped down Blake's forehead. She really was letting the aura boost go to her head.

"Speaking of strength, I wanted to get your thoughts on something," Ghira informed them all. "This attack from Salem, by an individual Sienna vouched for no less, has provided proof that we will not be able to stay out of whatever conflict is brewing. And that the Guard, though valiant, is insufficient to handle the threats that are coming."

Blake tilted her head to the side. "Unless you've found a way to teach them magic, I don't think anything is sufficient to handle what Salem can throw at us."

"Maybe not, but not all the danger may come from the Gates. And that means we need to be prepared to deal with them so you wizards can focus on Salem's elite," her father pointed out. "Which is why I am going to establish an active, standing army."

Every Remnant native's eyes widened. Lucy's eyes flickered between the faunus. "Um, do you not already have an army? I thought every country had an army."

"The kingdoms all do," Blake said.

"Even Vacuo," Sun confirmed. "I mean, it's corrupt as all hell, but it's there."

"But border settlements don't. And Menagerie's resources have always been more akin to those," Ilia finished. "We've got a Grimm-filled ocean between us and the rest of the world, and nothing anybody else really wants, so the Guard has always been enough to handle security matters. But, if we could get one, it could be a step towards being recognized as the fifth kingdom."

Ghira nodded. "That is a useful side benefit. After what's happened, I believe we can get more than enough people to enlist, but that's only the beginning. We can hardly set a force against our enemies without months of training. That requires equipment, funding, and, most importantly, teachers. Which I'm hoping you all can help with."

Blake paled and glanced away. Here was her father, renown pacifist, saying they needed a military and asking for her help to build it, and she couldn't meet him halfway. "Dad… I'm honored, but… I can't."

Her mother reached out and clasped her hands, the same arm she'd broken showing no signs of its previous fractures. When Blake looked up, she found only an understanding smile. "You have to go to Haven. You have to rejoin your friends."

Blake glanced at Lucy and smirked at her guildmate. "Wendy and Carla are there. If we're going to figure out what the heck is actually going on, we need to come together."

"I can figure out the way if I need to," Lucy assured her. "I'm not going to drag you away from your family."

"You're my family too," Blake shot back. "Besides, I made Yang a promise that I'd meet her in Mistral when I mastered my powers. I plan to keep it."

Lucy grinned. "Alright then. Do you have a plan to get there?"

"I know a captain that owes me a favor."

"A boat ride without Natsu and Wendy puking every other minute? I think I've forgotten what that's like."

Her father sighed but smiled her way. "I'd figured that was the case, but I thought it best to offer. I'm proud of you, Blake. Wherever you go, whatever you do, I know you'll find your way."

"I'm not so sure. I've made so many mistakes on my own," Blake confessed. "But as long as I have my friends by my side… I think I can manage it."

Her father nodded. Then he turned to Ilia. "How about you, Ms. Amiltola?"

The chameleon faunus' eyes widened. "Me?"

"You've made it clear you have no loyalty left to the White Fang. And Adam did send you here in the first place to whip the Albains' men into shape," Ghira shrugged. "We need someone with actual combat experience to build up our training regimens."

"I… I…" Ilia's face flashed stark white in time with her stutters until Sun nudged her side. She coughed to clear her throat and sat up straight. "Chieftain Belladonna, it would be my honor."

"Yeah, that's what I'm talking about!" Sun cheered, raising a bandaged hand for a high-five. Ilia stared at him for a moment and gestured at her severely more restricted arms. The monkey faunus then gently brought down his palm on one of the casts. "We are going to be the best drill sergeants ever!"

Ilia's eyes widened. "You're staying?"

"You're staying?" Blake gasped.

Ghira sighed. "He's seen more action than most everyone on the island. And we can't afford to be picky…"

"One second!"

Blake leapt to her feet and dragged Sun to his, the monkey faunus barely scrambling his crutches under him. She led him behind an outlook, ignoring the various looks she got from the construction workers. When the two of them had some privacy, she rounded on her blond, banana loving friend.

"You're not coming to Haven?" she asked. "It's your school!"

Sun sighed, tilting his head towards his mummified body. "I'm not exactly in any shape to travel. Docs say that if the burns were any worse, Ilia and I would have lost nerves. Not even aura can fix that."

"But it can speed up mending broken bones," Blake said. "It'll take a week, but we can wait—"

"No, you can't," Sun countered. "You know what Qrow said, Salem's attack on Mistral could happen any day now. Not to mention that we don't know if shutting out her voice kept her from sensing your location. The longer you stay here, the bigger risk she'll send even more muscle after you."

"That's… that's…" Blake bit her lip. "Irritatingly well thought out."

Sun smirked. "I have my moments."

"A lot of them. Ever since we met, even when you had no idea who I was, you were always there for me," Blake chuckled, before smiling. "Thank you for that."

"Hey, you just lightning-ed a psycho demon in the face. If I did anything, it was just giving you a hand figuring out that you're already awesome."

Blake rolled her eyes. "If you say so."

Sun laughed, though a more subdued expression overtook him right after. But it wasn't sadness. More… acceptance.

"I can't do magic. I'll never be able to do magic," he said. "But wishing that I could isn't going to help anyone. Gotta take the world as it is, you know? I can't help you guys beat down Salem's big guns. But if last night showed me anything, other than you really undersold how awesome Lucy is, it's that I _can_ help. It's just got to be more support related than I'm used to. And training you guys up the most badass army on Remnant if you ever need one? That sounds as supportive as support gets."

"That it does." Blake paused a moment, and then planted a soft kiss on Sun's cheek. "And for the record, you're already awesome too."

A deep blush blossomed over Sun's cheeks. "Well, yeah. That goes without saying."

"Blake!"

The pair of faunus whirled around to Lucy had happened upon them, though the blonde's cheeks were pink, and she had a hand in front of her face. Blake and Sun both cringed.

"It's okay to look, Lucy," the black-haired girl assured her guildmate.

"Are you sure?" the Celestial Spirit Wizard demanded. "Because if you and your boyfriend are reenacting one of those scenes from your books, I can wait!"

Blake's face turned beet red. "That's… It's not… he's not…"

"Just a friend for now," Sun clarified, shooting her an understanding nod. "Though come on. What book is going to have a beautiful girl do anything like that with a guy banged to hell and back?"

"So Lucy did you need anything?!" Blake asked quickly. No one needed to know that no less than three chapters in her books contained events _exactly_ like that. Five in the ones that Erza lent her.

Lucy pulled her hand away from her face and rubbed the back of her head. "Well, not me exactly, but…"

She held the Key of the Lion out before her. It was glowing.

"I think Loke needs to talk with us."

* * *

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 _Oscar had thought he'd started getting the hang of these memory dreams. At least, before he'd spent the last one in a waking trance thinking he was Ozma. He'd felt what his first life had felt in the moment of those legendary events, felt his burgeoning attraction to the princess' beauty and will, felt his happiness to have been able to help her and his friends. And most vividly, he felt his outrage at the cruelty of Ankhseram's proclamation._

 _Only a hand reaching out onto his shoulder and dragging him out from Ozma's form allowed him to recognize his own thoughts and feelings again. As well as the white-haired man before him he recognized from tv as being the man once known as Professor Ozpin._

" _Am I…" he muttered. "Am I still me?"_

" _You will always be you, Oscar," the apparition assured him. "But as I said, wait to absorb these memories naturally. Seek them out and it will only become more difficult to differentiate them from your own."_

" _I… I understand," Oscar said. "But what's so important about this girl?"_

" _What?"_

" _It's not like I have any way of aiming this memory search or whatever," he pointed out. "But every time I go looking, it's somehow related to her."_

" _She was an important person in Ozma's life."_

" _Yeah, but I'm not finding visions about the important people in your other lives."_

" _He was the first. It's natural you'd start with him."_

" _Then why not his parents? Or his kids?" Oscar inquired. "Something about this princess of the stars is still on top of our collective mind, and I need to know why."_

 _Ozpin glanced down, his eyes unnaturally skittish and timid._

" _Oz, please," Oscar begged. "You said we were partners. Don't make me go into this blind."_

 _For a moment, they just stood there in the formless mass of his mind, two souls who might one day be one. A farmboy and an ancient wizard huntsman, trying to find some sort of balance._

 _At last, Ozpin sighed. "It would be simpler to show you."_

 _He waved his hand and suddenly Oscar was standing in a new scene, a homey, comfortable-looking room with a big bed layered with tousled sheets and a fireplace filled with dying embers._

 _But while he may not have known the setting, he recognized the players. Ozma, laid out on the floor with a blanket over him, yawned and rose to his feet. Meanwhile, Sitara stood at the door, staring blankly at the wood, as if she couldn't decide if she wanted to leave or not._

" _How long have you been up?" the wizard inquired._

" _I don't know. An hour? I think? Time moves so much slower here. It shouldn't feel any different. It doesn't feel any different. But… but I know," Sitara murmured. She clutched her arms together, looking as if a weak breeze would shatter her like glass. "Thank you for the bed."_

" _That? No problem," Ozma replied, fidgeting as he tried not to be that breeze. "Seemed the least I could do given the circumstances."_

" _Right… the circumstances," the blonde woman muttered. "I guess I'll… leave you to your affairs."_

" _Righ—wait what?!" Ozma exclaimed. "You're leaving?"_

" _My stupidity has hurt everyone I've ever cared about and practically ensured I will never see my home ever again," Sitara explained, her hand closing on the doorknob. "I don't wish to be a burden on you as well."_

 _Ozma scrambled forward and caught the door before it opened. "Woah, woah, slow down for a second. What are you going to do?"_

" _Leave… was that not clear?"_

" _No, it was just… I meant where are you going to go?"_

" _I… I don't know. The only time I ever spent in this realm was trapped in Mard Geer's tower."_

" _Ah… right. Well then," Ozma shuffled away from the door and scratched the back of his head. "Look, if you really feel like you can't be around me, that's alright. People owe me favors from all over and I can help you get set up doing whatever you want to do. But, you're not a burden to me. And I don't think any of the others thought you like that either."_

 _Sitara finally looked him in the face, her sky-blue eyes ringed with red marks. "Why do you want to help me? Mard Geer wanted me as an experiment. Ankhseram wanted me here to restrict Zeref's influence. What's your stake in this?"_

 _Ozma cringed. "Um, well, it's what I do."_

" _What does that mean?!"_

" _I help people! Okay! My parents were Celestial Spirit Mages but I suck at it, so to compensate I tried to learn every other magic I could get my hands on and may have gone a little overboard and invented a few along the way," Ozma shouted. He paused a moment after, his face frozen as if he'd realized he'd raised his voice. He sighed. "Look, I started traveling to test my magic and when I went from town to town, I killed whatever demons were terrorizing them. That got me a reputation, everyone started writing songs, and I just kind of… went with it. I've got the power to help people so why not? It's just what I do."_

 _The time wizard stumbled over to the bed and took a seat, Sitara's gaze following his lumbering gait. "Look, I'm not trying to pressure you into staying with me, or finding your own way, or anything else. But you've been through more than I could possibly understand. I don't know what I can do, if anything, to make your situation even a little bit better. But I want to try."_

" _Why?" Sitara softly queried. "Why would you want to waste your time helping a worthless burden like me?"_

" _Because you're not a burden," Ozma repeated. "And this wasn't your fault."_

 _Sitara's eyes widened. The embers of the fire finally went quiet and the blonde woman meandered over to the bed, taking a seat beside Ozma. Just like they had back at the ruins of the tower, they sat side-by-side and let the silence be their soothing companion._

" _Before, back at the tower," the former princess murmured. "You said you were going to hunt Mard Geer down. Is that still the plan?"_

 _Ozma nodded. "It's on the agenda."_

" _Well then. I always wanted to see this world. Might as well take the opportunity now that I'm trapped here," she turned to the time wizard, a small smile blossoming across her face. "Mind if we take the scenic route on the way to send him back to hell?"_

 _Ozma grinned. "Not one bit." He raised a hand to her. "My name is Ozma. Nice to meet you."_

 _The blonde cocked an eyebrow. "I know who you are. Sir Ozma, the Great and—"_

" _No, it's… we never properly introduced ourselves. As long as I'm with you, my name is just Ozma. No 'sir'. No 'Great and Powerful'," the wizard declared. "I get the feeling you need a friend more than a hero."_

 _The woman actually chuckled at that, returning just a fraction of sparkle to her eyes. She reached up and clasped the offered hand. "A pleasure to meet you, Ozma. I am… well, I was Sitara Astra Lumos Estrella Malina, Princess of the Celestial Heavens, Master of Metria, and Lady Trainer of the Zodiac Guard…"_

" _Huh, maybe I should have kept 'Great and Powerful' after all."_

 _Another round of laughter, though this one tinged with resignation. "But Ankhseram has stripped that from me."_

" _Oh," Ozma remarked. "Maybe, you could… make your own?"_

 _The blonde tilted her head. "Make up my own name?"_

" _It's a possibility."_

" _But I like my old name."_

" _Then keep using it?"_

" _I'm not sure if Ankhseram would smite me for it or not. He's kind of a stickler for the letter of a punishment."_

" _Oh… huh."_

" _Yup."_

 _The room blurred and suddenly the inn room was gone. Oscar's threw his arm up to shield his face, the memory's sun beating down hard from its throne in the azure sky._

 _Still, Ozma must have found it a beautiful day, if the relaxed smile on his face was any indication. He stood under a street sign reading 'E. Market Street', watching the fluffy white clouds roll by above. With the sun gleaming off his armor, he truly looked like he'd stepped out of a fairy tale. The majestic figure raised his arm…_

 _And proceeded to cough into his elbow._

 _Huh. Guess even ancient badass wizards got things stuck in their throat from time to time._

" _Ozma!"_

 _Both Oscar and the man himself whirled to the source of the peppy voice. While the wizard's smile widened even further, the farmboy nearly did a doubletake._

 _The blonde woman stampeded down the road, a cloud of dust rising in her wake. But the sullen victim or the wrathful goddess of the previous visions was nowhere to be seen. Instead, the hybrid's face was adorned with a beatific grin, her hair flowing behind her like a spray of golden silk. And in each of her hands was…_

" _Here!" she cheered, shoving one of her sticks into her companion's arms. "One of the merchants gave it to me on the house for healing his kids! I don't know what kind of meat it is, or what kind of wood he put it on, but it's meat on a stick! You've got to try it!"_

 _Ozma laughed and accepted the treat. He took a massive bite out of the meat, rich juice dripping down his chin. "Yum! Toadboar never gets old!"_

" _Toadboar?"_

" _It's a pig that has the legs of a frog. The flavor mixes together when it's cooked and if you spice it just right it's one of the best things you'll ever eat."_

" _Better than roasted vulcan?"_

" _Well, I wouldn't go that far."_

 _The pair quickly devoured their stick meat while Oscar tried to figure out why anyone would ever want to eat a frog._

 _Eventually though, the blonde woman smiled at her companion. "By the way, I've figured out my name."_

" _Wha? Really?" Ozma swallowed the last of his toadboar. "All this time and you've finally settled on one you like?"_

 _The blonde woman nodded, cheekily folding her hands behind her back. She nodded her head above the two. "I got the idea from that."_

 _Ozma raised an eyebrow. "The street sign?"_

" _E. Market Street. It means East Market Street, but unless you know what the E. stands for, you'd never know."_

" _I'm pretty sure everyone knows what the E. stands for."_

" _Don't be smart, love," the woman teased, flicking Ozma's armor. "I liked my old name, the name my father gave me. Ankhseram took it away from me. But I don't want to give it up completely. So, I'll make it mine. Truly, mine, in a way that he can't ever take away from me again."_

" _You know, if those monks we met were right, 'Ankhseram' doesn't strictly exist anymore. You don't need to stick it to him."_

" _Of course I do," she grinned, holding up five fingers. "Sitara Astra Lumos Estrella Malina. I like the letters and I'm making them mine. S. A. L. E. M."_

 _Oscar immediately paled._

 _Ozma just tilted his head. "Salem? What the heck does that mean?"_

 _The demon-spirit hybrid shrugged. "Nothing. It's nonsense. But it's my nonsense. It's me."_

" _Well then," Ozma raised his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Salem. My name is Ozma."_

 _Salem took his hand, but instead of shaking it, used the grip to pull the time wizard close and plant a kiss on his lips._

 _Oscar immediately looked away, his face even paler. A loud, piercing ring echoed through his ears._

 _When he looked up, Ozpin was standing in front of him. As the blaring ring grew louder and louder, he pushed his hands over his ears._

" _Okay, I get it," the farmboy said. "The Queen of the Grimm had a shit past and you had a thing with her. Can you please stop the warning sirens?"_

" _That's not me," Ozpin replied._

" _It's Ozma, fine, but—"_

" _No, I mean that ringing. I'm not causing it," the huntsman clarified. "It's coming from the real world."_

 _Oscar's eyes widened. "What?"_

" _Wake up!"_

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"Nora, I think you've hit it enough times."

"Come on, Jaune. One more, just in case she's still on bed rest."

Carla raised an eyebrow. "I'd count that as a reason to stop and let her come at her own pace."

"Cats don't talk in Mistral," Nora shot back, before going back to spamming the doorbell.

The Exceed scowled at the statement. Uncle Qrow raised a hand to scratch her behind the ears, but she swatted his limb away, glaring at him for the attempt.

Ruby sighed and glanced around the resplendent streets of Mistral's upper ring. It was hard to imagine that the finely paved streets and elegant paper townhouses belonged to the same kingdom as the dozens of barely surviving settlements they'd gone through. Heck, even their trek through the lower districts to get there had revealed squalor sometimes worse than the settlements. And that was the only time they'd seen any faunus since they arrived in the kingdom.

According to Uncle Qrow, that was just how it was. In the upper ring, Carla would attract less attention pretending to be an actual cat than in her transformed state. And sitting on his shoulder. Though the fact that she was with Ruby's uncle instead of her partner was somewhat disconcerting.

The red hooded reaper glanced back at Wendy, the Sky Dragon Slayer having secluded herself at the back of the party. Uncle Qrow had advised her to give her friend time to process the truth of Remnant and Earthland on her own, and she'd tried to do that during the last leg of the journey to Mistral. But watching the blue-haired girl mutter to herself, she wondered if she'd made the right choice.

Well, if it was a mistake, no time like the present to fix it.

She dropped back from Jaune, Nora, and Ren's debate about the doorbell and walked to her guildmate.

"I see. I don't have your reserves and the lower recharge rate could be a problem, but if I had a few days I suppose I could do it…"

"Ugh, Wendy?" Ruby said.

"Ah! Ruby!" Wendy stammered, her back going ramrod straight. "I wasn't talking to anyone!"

Ruby raised an eyebrow. "Well obviously. You were muttering to yourself, right? Don't worry. I do that with weapons all the time."

Wendy scratched the bottom of her chin. "Right, muttering to myself. That's exactly what I was doing. So, what's wrong? Is this the wrong house?"

"Maybe? We'll know soon enough," Ruby said. "But I wanted to check on you. How are you doing?"

"About the time travel?"

"Yeah. That," Ruby flinched. "I just want you to know, we're going to find a way to fix it. We're going to get you home."

Wendy cringed, a frown marring her face. "Ruby… thank you… but, that's not going to happen."

"Sure we will!" Ruby declared. "Salem has the book she used to send us to Fairy Tail. All we need to do is find the others, get the book, and send you guys back."

"Time travel doesn't work like that," Wendy replied. "If you change the past, any future that could no longer result from that past is erased. I've seen it happen. If we go back, Remnant will have never existed."

"Oh. Didn't know that," Ruby remarked. "But there's got to be a way."

"There isn't."

"How do you know?"

"Uh, I talked to an expert about it."

"An expert on time travel? We've been in the middle of nowhere for weeks."

"I did it before. After I got out of the Ravines of Time."

"Oh, that makes sense."

"Yes. Yes, it does," Wendy said, sighing for some reason. "Look, Ruby, I appreciate what you're saying, but there is no way to go back."

No way? No way for her friend to ever see Mira, or Juvia, or Gajeel, or any of the guild ever again? No way for her to ever see Magnolia again? Ruby couldn't accept that. She wouldn't give into despair and give up on trying to help her friend.

"We'll take things step by step," she assured Wendy. "First things first, we need to track down the rest of the Strongest Team. Gray is with Weiss, and Natsu and Happy are… you know, so we just need to find Erza and Lucy."

"How are we going to do that?" the Sky Dragon Slayer asked. "If they're still in their Fairy Spheres, they could be anywhere on the planet. And if they're not, they could have gotten out centuries ago for all we know. They could have already lived their lives and passed on already."

"What? That's ridiculous. There is no way they wouldn't have gone down in history as some legendary huntress," Ruby pointed out. "And if they'd shown up in the last ten years or so, they would have come to us—"

"Um, hello."

Everyone's eyes darted to the doorway, finally opened to reveal… a small boy in a frayed shirt and overalls?

"Oh, hello there small… farmboy," Nora greeted, both Jaune and Ren facepalming. "How are you today?"

"Um, currently reeling from a traumatic revelation that I don't completely understand… uh…"

"Huh. Guess that's going around. Don't worry. You'll make it through."

Ruby rushed forward and overtook JNPR's shorter redhead. While her social skills weren't incredible, they'd be better than Nora's blissful head-on manner. If what Uncle Qrow had said was true, anyone in this district could sic the police on them, and since they had decided to check on their friend before going to see Headmaster Lionheart, they didn't have any allies in the city to bail them out yet.

"We're very sorry to disturb you," she professed to the boy. "We're looking for the Nikos residence and we were told it was around here."

"Well, yeah, it is here—" the boy's eyes widened. "You have silver eyes."

Ruby raised an eyebrow. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary to say, her eyes were silver and it wasn't a common color. But the only other people who'd ever directly commented on them had been in the know about magic. And the way this boy said it… the voice was completely different, the cadence was a bit too fast, and the air of mysterious authority was certainly missing, but for some reason it still reminded her off…

"Oscar! Who is it? I asked Mr. Kant not to stop by until… Jaune?"

All the huntsmen suddenly looked over the boy's head (not hard, he was even shorter than Ruby) and their hearts soared at the object of their search came into view.

"Pyrrha!"

The redhead's eyes barely had time to widen before Ruby and Nora both leapt straight over Oscar and tackled her to the floor. They couldn't help it. The last time Ruby had seen Pyrrha, her friend had been a half-dead wreck only barely kept alive by Wendy and desperately sent off with Carla to get further medical attention. Now, she was walking around healthy as a bird in a leather jacket, some new brown gauntlets (new weapons!), and a fancy boot around her right foot.

"We were so worried about you!"

"How have you been recovering?"

"Who's the farmboy?"

"What are you wearing?"

"I'm sorry, what?" Pyrrha picked up both girls with semblance and lifted herself from the ground. "Ren, can you please transl—oompf!"

She received no immediate response before Ren rushed in and engulfed her in a hug himself.

"We missed you," he declared.

Pyrrha smiled and returned the embrace in kind. Ruby and Nora peeled themselves off the walls and joined in without toppling everyone over.

In that few seconds, everyone else had filed into the house. The four huntsmen remained together for a moment before pulling apart. But Ruby couldn't help but be slightly confused why another hadn't joined in the hug. Pyrrha too, if the fact that her eyes locked onto Jaune was any indication.

The blond vomit boy shot his partner an awkward smile, sincere, but unsure. His legs tensed as if to take a step forward but suddenly stopped halfway there. Finally, he raised his hand and waved.

"Hello again."

Ruby had no idea what he meant by 'again' or why he was being so weird about the reunion, but his words prompted a light chuckle from Pyrrha, who returned his smile. Guess whatever was going on, the partners understood.

Were they communicating telepathically? Did Pyrrha's magic include telepathy? That would be so cool—"

"Pyrrha! I heard something crash! Is everything alright?!"

As soon as the voice passed through her ears, Ruby's heart skipped a beat. She whipped over to the doorway where the sound had originated from, unsure if her mind was playing tricks on her or not.

"Everything's fine, mother!" Pyrrha called. "My friends are here!"

Oh. It was just Pyrrha's mom. Not who she'd thought it was. It had been awhile since she'd heard her mentor's voice, it made sense that she might confuse it for a similar one.

She glanced over to Wendy and Carla. Both Fairy Tail wizards were completely frozen.

Similar… or…

"Oh!" A blur of red dashed into the hallway, which solidified into a tall woman with twinkles in her brown eyes. She glanced around each of them, her smile only growing with each person spotted. Which would have been charming if the dark blue Fairy Tail emblem wasn't in plain view on her right arm.

"How wonderful to meet you all! Let's see, from the Vytal Festival, I think I know Jaune, Nora, Ren, and… Ruby, was it—"

"ERZA!"

The crimson-haired woman's eyes widened as once more Ruby, and this time Wendy and Carla, leapt through the air and slammed into her, the four tumbling to the floor in a heap.

"Mother!" Pyrrha squealed.

"No, no, I'm alright," Erza assured her. "I just didn't expect your friends to be so affectionate."

"Erza, it's so good to… wait," Wendy's cries abruptly cut off. The Sky Dragon Slayer glancing between Pyrrha and their lost guildmate. " _Her_ friends?"

"Of course, young miss," Erza said, her hand rising to scratch behind Carla's ears, the white Exceed not responding at all. "Who's a cute little kitty? You are. Yes, you are."

Ruby's smile disappeared. "Erza? What are you talking about? It's us. Ruby, Wendy, and Carla."

Erza brow furrowed, her face twisting in confusion. "Um, Erza? I'm sorry, but I think you've mistaken me for someone else. My name is Scarlet Nikos."

"No, no, no, you're Erza. You're Erza Scarlet," Wendy muttered. She crawled over to Erza's arm and pointed at her guildmark. Then, she rolled up her own left sleeve to show the bright blue emblem on her own shoulder. "You're Erza Scarlet, the Titania of Fairy Tail."

"Fairy… Tail?" the redheaded woman raised an eyebrow and looked between the two marks and the ones on Ruby's hand and Carla's back. "Is that what this means?"

Wendy sank back on her haunches, her eyes completely blank. Ruby would have gone over to comfort her, except she herself felt her veins freeze to ice, her mind going utterly and completely blank.

They'd reunited with Pyrrha. They'd found Erza. They'd even found a random farmboy. But still, something was inherently wrong because _Erza didn't know what Fairy Tail was_ _and Pyrrha was calling her_ …

…

…

Wait… WHAT?!

* * *

 **You know, I've had this reunion in my head for a while and I am very happy with how it turned out (especially Ren and Wendy's reactions), but I think my favorite thing to write this chapter was the flashback stuff. It was nice to be able to write pure fluff for once. That and Lucy's utter delight to finally have superstrength that does require her to change clothes.**

 **An extra huge thank you to my patrons: Gregg Tracton, Annaya Chan, Keith Tracton, Nora Okonus, KefkaesqueXIII, Christian Howard, SanyaBane, Matthew Blevins, David Wayman, G-Unit91, and Primordial Paper.**

 **Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!**

 **Go Forth and Conquer!**


	38. Chapter 37

**Beta-ed by xenosaiyan**

* * *

 _The Card Dealer. The Gunslingers._

 _Pain._

 _Keep fighting._

 _The Beast. The Iron Dragon._

 _More pain, but not enough._

 _Keep fighting._

 _The Demon._

 _Pain! So much pain!_

 _Keep fighting. Keep fighting._

 _The_ _ **Demon**_ _._

 _Agony!_

 _Keep fighting. Keep fighting. KEEP FIGHTING!_

 _The She-Devil who'd sharpened her steel._

 _Agony, her muscles collapsing, her vision consumed by her own blood._

 _KEEP FIGHTING! KEEP FIGHTING! KEEP FIGHTING!_

 _The She-Devil she couldn't beat at her best, let alone broken._

 _KEEP FIGHTING! Fight for the family behind you—_

 _The Demon smashed her into the ground. As she thrust her blade into her foe's (friend's?) stomach, everything dropped away. Even the pain._

 _Even the light._

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 _The light returned, cast down by a small cylinder in the hand of a man with a white coat._

" _Aargh!" she squealed, scrambling back from the man, only to find herself smacking into a high back chair. Her arm shot out and snatched the man's wrist, twisting it until he yelped and dropped his cylinder._

" _Wait, wait, calm down!" a new voice pleaded, a supple woman with a red bob cut and glasses. "He's a doctor. I brought you here after you passed out fighting those Grimm. Remember, from the woods?"_

" _Woods?"_

 _Her head, everything, felt fuzzy. But she did think she remembered something about woods. A forest that she'd woken up in after dreaming about the demon, a bloody sword still in her hand. Then she'd heard a scream and ran off to help, finding some giant black scorpions bearing down on…_

" _You," she whispered, releasing the doctor as things clicked into place. "You were there. You were fighting them. Or… trying to fight them?"_

 _The woman blushed, nervously scratching the back of her head. "Yeah, I'm not exactly an ace with a sword. You though, you were amazing! I've never seen footwork like that! Where'd you learn it?"_

" _I… I don't know."_

" _Oh," the woman replied._

" _That's an understatement," the doctor said, rubbing his wrist. "The scans are still developing, but from the preliminary assessment I managed to finish, your friend here shouldn't even be standing, Ms. Nikos, much less as spry as she seems. Head trauma, lacerations all over, barely enough blood to remain functional, it'd be easier to list the injuries she doesn't have. In fact, if I'm guessing right, she's… I'm going to go check on those scans just to be sure. Do not leave this room."_

 _The white coat rushed out of the room, leaving the two redheaded women behind._

" _Well," Nikos cringed. She held out her hand. "Thank you, again, for saving me. I'm Rouge, by the way. Rouge Nikos."_

 _She eyed the bespectacled woman's arm for a moment before stretching out her own limb to shake the hand. "It's alright. I'm just glad you're safe."_

 _Rouge grinned. "How could I not be? Seriously, I've never seen anyone go through a pack of Deathstalkers like that. Whatever your semblance is, you must be an expert with it."_

 _She raised an eyebrow. "Semblance?"_

" _Oh," Rouge smacked her face into her hand. "Sorry. Guess you really do have some bad head trauma. Maybe something simpler? Do you remember your name?"_

" _My… name…"_

 _She tried to think back. It wasn't as if she'd forgotten everything. She knew how to walk, how to talk, how to fight apparently. But whenever she tried to think back to before waking up in the forest, all that came into her mind was a flash of dark fire, of the demon, coming for her with purple claws outstretched. Her head throbbed, as if it knew that something should be there but couldn't make the connection. Nothing rose up, no image, no fact, no scrap of information about who she was or where she came from._

 _But… when she tried to recall her name… a faint whisper fluttered through her ears._

' _It was the color of your hair.'_

 _Her fingers rose and tangled themselves in her chaotic locks, her eyes narrowing over their red shine. No, not red. Not just red._

" _Scarlet," she said. "I think… I think my name is Scarlet."_

 _Rouge grinned. "Scarlet. That's a beautiful name."_

" _Thank you," she replied. "I just wish I could remember anything else."_

" _Well, if you can't, maybe I can help you stay on your feet while you do? My family's… well… we're the Nikos."_

" _The who?"_

" _Right, you don't remember even if you knew," Rouge groaned, smacking herself on the forehead. "We're pretty well off. Anything you need while you're remembering who you are, food, clothes, lodging, you've got it."_

" _What?" Scarlet yelped. "No, no, I couldn't possibly impose!"_

" _You're not imposing. I'm offering."_

" _You don't even know who I am._ I _don't even know who I am."_

" _I know you saved my life," Rouge smiled. "Don't worry. Dad's an ex-arena fighter, been trying to teach me for ages. He'll love you."_

" _I…" Scarlet mirrored her new friend's grin. "Thank you. This is just…"_

" _Sudden?"_

" _Yes. I don't know what my life was like before, but I'm not sure I've ever experienced a shock like this."_

" _Don't worry about it. A few happy surprises never hurt anyone."_

 _The doctor chose that moment to burst back into the room, a sheet of papers clutched to his chest. "Ms.—"_

" _Scarlet. I think my name is Scarlet."_

" _What? Oh. How wonderful," the doctor said, looking no less frazzled. "Ms. Scarlet, I understand this is a low possibility, but do you recall when your last sexual encounter might have been?"_

" _Sexual…" Scarlet's face went beet red, her teeth gnashing against each other. "I most certainly cannot. Why do you ask?"_

 _The doctor flinched back from her glare, tepidly pushing his papers forward. She snatched them from his grasp. Rouge leaned over her shoulder and gasped._

 _Scarlet couldn't see why. Granted, she had no idea what the faded white image on a black background meant._

" _That is a scan we took of your abdominal area to assess your injuries," the doctor explained. "It also alerted us to an abnormality growing in the area that I can now confirm is a fetus in the very early stages of its growth."_

 _Scarlet's eyes widened. "Fetus... As in…"_

" _You seem to be about a month pregnant."_

* * *

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"… after I passed out a few more times, Rouge finally took me home. Father wasn't exactly pleased that she'd run off into the woods without telling him and come back with a pregnant amnesiac, but once he learned what I did with no memory, no aura, and pregnant, he was thrilled to have me around. Originally, he was just going to have me be Rouge's sparring partner, but she had no love for fighting and he didn't particularly enjoy pressuring her into the family legacy. A year later, I still didn't remember anything about who I was or how I ended up in those woods, but I had a new family that I loved."

A _new_ family. Wendy couldn't even muster the will to flinch at the words, even though it felt as if she'd been slapped across the face.

After the reunions and confusion in the hallway, the group had settled into the Nikos' living room in an attempt to both get everyone up to speed on what everyone else knew and to suss out exactly who Scarlet Nikos was.

But Wendy knew. She knew Ruby and Carla knew as well. None of them could have mistaken the dark blue guildmark on the woman's shoulder for anything else. She was Erza, without even a wrinkle of age to mar her face.

She was Erza. After months of doubt and dread, after having Happy confirm her worst fears, after learning that she had lost the entire guild, she'd lost hope that anything would go right for her or her friends again. Even if Gray was in Atlas with Weiss, _something_ would go horribly wrong, _something_ would keep her from ever seeing any of her guildmates outside Carla and Team RWBY ever again.

But then she'd seen her. She'd _seen Erza_ , the woman who invited her into Fairy Tail in the first place, who'd always picked her up from the depths of her dread before, who'd led and inspired the entire guild as their Titania. She'd seen her and, just for a moment, she had hope again.

But Erza had looked right at her… and she hadn't seen her. The moment had ended, and Wendy couldn't even muster the strength to cry.

" _Chin up, little shrimp,"_ Irene chided, floating in a spectral form only the Sky Dragon Slayer could see. _"Would you rather have not found her at all?"_

Wendy glanced down. "No."

"I'm not?"

The blue-haired girl's head shot up. "Huh?"

Erza… Scarlet… _Erza_ raised an eyebrow. "I'm not actually a fairy from thousands of years ago? Was that not what you all are trying to tell me?"

"What? No, no, no, you are!" Wendy frantically clarified. "Well, not a fairy. A Fairy Tail wizard."

She glanced over at the ghostly Queen of the Dragons, who merely shrugged. It probably wouldn't be best to talk to her while other people were around.

"Titania, the Queen of the Fairies!" Ruby cheered, seizing the gap in conversation to further enthrall their amnesiac mentor. "You were the most awesome person in an entire guild full of awesome people! You taught me everything I know about Requip, got me to think about using everything in my arsenal, and you were always so confident and knew exactly what to do! Plus, you had an entire armory of super cool weapons and armor!"

"You were the seventh guildmaster. You were practically raised in the guildhall," Carla added, though the Exceed's face was uncharacteristically fragile, her marble white fur matted and wet. "Is none of this ringing a bell?"

Erza scratched the back of her head. "I'm sorry, but no. And honestly, even with magic and reincarnating wizards, I'm not sure if I buy the idea that I am this Fairy Queen you seem to think I am. I mean, how would I have even ended up in the middle of the Argus woods? Don't these Fairy Spheres need to be hit by a burst of magic to open?"

Qrow, leaning against the wooden support of the wall, wrenched his gaze away from the young farmboy Oscar and furrowed his brow. "Outside Argus… you said this was eighteen years ago?"

Erza nodded and the huntsman sighed.

Jaune, who strangely stood to the side of the couch the rest of his team had laid claim to, cocked an eyebrow. "I take it you don't have good memories about then?"

"Nope, just the opposite in fact," Qrow revealed. "Eighteen years ago, a member of the inner circle named Hazel Rainart went over to Salem. With his defection, the identities of the maidens back then were compromised. Oz and James did what they could to protect them, but the Spring Maiden had just passed on and left her powers to her granddaughter in Argus. Team STRQ was dispatched to get her to safety at Haven."

Ruby's eyes widened. "You saved her? Didn't you?"

Qrow smirked. "Wasn't easy. Hazel got made a Gate in exchange for becoming a turncoat, and he came down on us in the forest outside the city. One Silver-Eyed Warrior, three ace huntsmen, and one terrified little girl who couldn't control her planet shaking powers against an Eclipse Etherious. It took everything we had just to survive, there was so much magic flying around I could hardly see. It was Team STRQ's finest hour to get that girl safely to Haven. But I wouldn't be surprised if a stray shot from Hazel's powers or Summer's eyes hit the sphere and none of us noticed in the chaos." His smile evaporated. "Wouldn't be the only thing to go downhill after that fight."

Irene chuckled. _"Well, there must be a story behind that. Though, undoubtedly best left to another time."_

Wendy couldn't help but agree. Though she was hardly unbiased in the matter, given she was unable to tear her eyes away from the guildmate she needed to remember her.

Oscar's eyes flashed green, his entire posture shifting, standing straighter, more proper. The farmboy, if that was all he was, took a step into the center of the room, drawing the attention of all the disparate mutterings of the group to him like a magnet.

"Whether the elder Ms. Nikos is Erza Scarlet or not, and what we can do to restore her memories if she is, will have to be something we table for now," he declared. "At least until we handle more immediate affairs."

"More immediate affairs?" Nora parroted. "No offense adorable farmboy, but who are you?"

Pyrrha, _Erza's daughter_ , flinched at her teammate. "He's Oscar, a friend I've been training for the last few months. But he's also… well…"

The farmboy turned to Qrow and smirked. "I'd like my cane back."

The huntsman's eyes widened before a massive smile blossomed across his face. He snatched an intricately engraved shaft from his belt, one that Wendy had seen on his belt the entire journey but never bothered to ponder why he never used it, and tossed it to Oscar. The farmboy plucked it out of the air and flicked its trigger, a well-polished staff ejecting from the hilt. The weapon meant nothing to Wendy, but her Remnant native friends all gasped.

"Professor… Ozpin?" Ren stuttered.

Ozpin? The headmaster of Beacon? Qrow had told them he was capable of reincarnating, but she hadn't expected a boy younger than even herself.

The wizard smiled at them all. "It's a relief to see you all safe, my students. And Miss. Marvell, Miss. Carla, despite the circumstances, it is an honor. I've heard a great deal about you."

"Oh, thank you," Wendy replied, shooting her friends' teacher a short bow. "It's nice to meet you too."

"Quite," Carla said, her eyes narrowed. "What did you mean by 'more immediate affairs'? Are you suggesting we shouldn't focus on restoring Erza's memories?"

Erza cocked an eyebrow at the white Exceed, but Ozpin held up a placating hand before she could say anything.

"I understand how important such matters are, believe me," the former headmaster assured them. "But first we need to make sure we are safe to do so with impunity."

"Do you mean Happy and the Ophiuchus?" Ruby inquired. "Would they really come into the city?"

Ozpin scowled. "No. They are most certainly our greatest threat, but for now, they won't risk forcing a confrontation in the city."

"Why?" Carla asked. "From what you've all said, Salem wants to wipe out humanity. What would be easier than having her strongest follower slaughter a city? You don't seem to believe we can beat him."

"Because we can't," the wizard confirmed. "But their primary objective is to claim the Relic of Knowledge. If they burn Mistral to the ground, the Spring Maiden would go to ground and they'd never get into the vault. Which makes me far more concerned that they may have already taken Haven."

"You really think Professor Lionheart's on their side?" Erza said.

"Wait, what? Leo? Oz, you can't be serious," Qrow protested. "Sure, he can be a bit skittish, but he's no traitor."

Ozpin sighed. "I hope you are right. But Cinder and her allies infiltrated Beacon through Haven, and instead of keeping his defenses close as I instructed in the event of my death, his faculty and huntsmen have been scattered across the kingdom, his students kept away from the academy. It is possible that the Mistral Council somehow forced his hand, but in case they didn't, in case of the worst, it'd been best if we held a few cards close to the chest."

Wendy frowned. Ozpin's logic made some sense, but he didn't seem to have any hard evidence that this Lionheart had turned against them. And to lie to a friend, to hide crucial information from them based only on suspicion, it didn't sit right with her.

But that was the logic she'd used in her own time. She'd already seen matters were far more fraught than she was used to, faith less rewarded. If Ozpin had really been reincarnating on Remnant for who knew how many years, struggling to fight Salem for all that time, had his cautious mistrust, even paranoia, been earned?

"So far, I've been able to keep my presence hidden from Leonardo. He believes Oscar is just Scarlet's new student, a training partner to help Pyrrha get back on her feet," the wizard continued. "You say the Spring Maiden is with Raven? I suggest we keep that knowledge to ourselves, at least until we have secured the girl."

Ren tilted his head to the side. "You want the ten of us to take on the entire Branwen Tribe?"

"We can do that easy!" Nora declared. "They're bandits! We're wizards! It'll be simple!"

Pyrrha cringed, her hands clenching for just a moment. "Don't underestimate a maiden, Nora. If she sides against us—"

"Then Wendy can just kick her butt!" the other huntress cheered. "She beat down Cinder after all!"

Pyrrha's eyes widened and instantly latched onto Wendy. " _You_ beat Cinder?"

"Um, yeah," Wendy murmured. "After I stabilized you on the tower, I was able to fight her off."

Pyrrha grinned. "That's incredible! Please, can you—"

"What do you mean by stabilized?" Erza suddenly cut in. "The doctors said Pyrrha was put through the wringer, but it wasn't life-threatening."

"That was because of Wendy," Ruby explained. "Pyrrha took a nasty hit for me on Beacon Tower, but Wendy is a healer. I couldn't keep Cinder and the Wyvern off her long enough for her to take care of everything, but she kept it from being fatal."

Erza fearfully glanced towards Pyrrha, who avoided the Fairy Queen's eyes. Soon, she turned to Wendy and the blue-haired girl perfectly understood the Mistral Champion's impulse.

"You saved her."

"Uh, yes," Wendy confirmed. "Don't worry about it. It was nothing."

"My daughter's life is the furthest thing from nothing," Erza proclaimed. She stepped forward and bowed from the waist to Wendy. "Thank you. Thank you so much."

The Sky Dragon Slayer couldn't hide her awkwardness at the gesture, not responding for several seconds, her eyes flickering between her guildmate's prostrated form and Pyrrha's kind smile.

"You're welcome," she eventually settled on.

"Would it be alright if we fought?"

"What?"

Pyrrha flinched. "Oh, I'm sorry. I meant spar. Would it be alright if we sparred? I mean, we won't be able to keep our entire group hidden from Professor Lionheart. But if we go up to Haven and let him know you're here, minus Professor Ozpin, we can either get his advice if he's on our side and at least make sure he doesn't think we suspect him if he isn't. And needing to use Haven's arena for a spar will make us seem even less suspicious."

"Oh, I guess that makes sense," Wendy said. "But, why me?

"Well, you beat Cinder," Pyrrha replied. "Professor Ozpin has been helping me improve my magic over the last few months, but since Oscar's body is still being conditioned… I just want to see exactly how far I've come. Is that okay?"

"Oh! It's perfectly okay," Wendy assured her. "It's just… I was able to beat Cinder because I was able to access a state called Dragonforce. It increases my magical energy output by several magnitudes, but it costs more ethernano to maintain as a trade-off. Without a maiden nearby, I can't maintain it here."

"Ah," Pyrrha deflated. "I suppose that makes sense."

"Don't worry, Pyrrha. Your plan can still work," Ruby promised, hopping to her feet with a grin on her face. "And if you need someone to fight, I can fill the part. You can show me what those new weapons of yours can do and I can finally see just what my armor can handle in a fight." She looked to Erza. "I based it off one of yours, so maybe it will help jog your memory."

Erza, having risen from her bow, shot Ruby a nervous smile. "Perhaps. I guess if I am this Titania, I might as well try to find out one way or the other."

"Awesome!" Ruby cheered. "You'll have your memories back before you know it."

"Yeah," Nora grinned. "Pyrrha won't even have enough time to finish kicking your butt."

"What? I can totally take her!"

"As if. Pyrrha's the best huntress in our year, you know that."

"But I've had magic for longer! I've got more experience!"

Jaune chuckled. "Ruby, your magic relies on summoning weapons."

"So?"

" _Metal_ weapons," Ren finished with a smirk.

Ruby paled, incoherent words stammering from her mouth. "Yo… yo… you're ganging up on me! This is team prejudice!"

"Well, duh," Nora said, sticking out her tongue. "Team JNPR is back together, baby!"

"Pyrrha, you think I can beat you, right?"

The redheaded huntress plastered on a smile. "I think we should both do our best, Ruby."

"That's not an answer!"

Carla sighed. "For goodness' sake, if you're so eager to fight, let's just go already."

"Good point, Carla!" Ruby shouted, pointing a finger towards her friend. "Let's do this!"

Ozpin chuckled. "Well, it's good to see that your spirits remain high. You'll need it in the coming months."

"Ominous warnings later! Fight now!"

At that, Ruby and Team JNPR piled out of the room, Qrow and Erza shaking their heads as they followed. Carla smacked her face into her palm.

"Honestly, we just crossed a continent and the first thing these fools want to do is fight each other," the white Exceed huffed.

Ozpin smiled. "Youth lends energy that seems unfathomable to those who have lost it."

Carla glared at the wizard. "Are you suggesting I'm old?"

A green flash spread over Ozpin's eyes and his posture sagged back to how it was before. Oscar, now back in control, did his best to smile at Carla. The Exceed huffed and followed after their friends.

"Crafty old man," Oscar muttered. "Leaving me to pick up the pieces."

Wendy couldn't help but giggle. "Sorry about that. Don't worry though, Carla knows his words aren't yours."

"I hope so," Oscar said, nervously rubbing his wrists. "Gotta admit, it'll be nice to see Pyrrha kick someone else's butt for once. She's a great teacher, but she's got a lot to work out."

"Right. A lot to work out," Wendy muttered. "Why don't you go on ahead? I'll catch up."

"You know the way to Haven?"

"I'll figure it out."

Oscar raised an eyebrow but nodded and walked off after a moment. He seemed to realize that she wanted to be alone. Or at least, as so much as he was aware she could be.

" _What a cute little boy,"_ Irene mused. _"I wonder how long it will take the old man to destroy him."_

Wendy frowned. "Ozpin doesn't want to hurt him."

" _He won't hurt him. He'll destroy him. Don't mistake their situation for our own arrangement, little shrimp. I am but a passenger in your mind, and my ability to influence your body perished with my magic. But their souls are intertwined by the curse of gods. I suspect Ozpin doesn't really need his permission to take command if he really tries, and before long he won't even need to. Oscar Pine won't exist anymore, just another life of a wizard who cannot die."_

"That's… that's awful," Wendy muttered. "Is there anything we can do to stop it?"

" _Quite easily. As long as they haven't fully merged yet, you can simply use the same body possession enchantment to evacuate one of them from the body,"_ Irene explained, an eager grin playing over her ghostly face. _"If you didn't then have another body for the liberated soul to enter, it'd be the same as killing one of them. Would you be willing to do that?"_

Wendy glanced away, the answer obvious even if the other woman couldn't read her thoughts.

Irene sighed. _"You never were one for violence, were you? Even if your little friend hadn't drawn my granddaughter's attention, you would never have agreed to spar with her."_

The Sky Dragon Slayer couldn't argue that. Even back in Magnolia, she was one of the few who'd never taken part in the guildhall brawls.

"How are you doing with all this?" she asked. She was being insensitive. Whatever her feelings regarding Erza's situation, Irene was her _mother_. Sure, their relationship was brief and hardly loving when they'd been together, but the Queen of Dragons staying her hand and laying down her life for her daughter had shown there was something there. Whatever it was.

Her ghostly advisor shrugged. _"What is there to do? She's alive. She's safe. She's been happy and loved for decades while I wasn't there. Honestly, it's a familiar feeling. Though I admit I am pleased that she's maintained her youthful looks into age as I have. And to be a grandmother? Ha! I never thought I'd live to see the day."_

"Technically, you didn't," Wendy snarked.

Her mentor rounded on her, and she instantly regretted her sass. She didn't even know why she'd said it, she wasn't usually so insensitive—

" _I suppose the better question would be, how are you doing with all this, little shrimp?"_

"Huh?"

" _You're not nearly as good at hiding your feelings as you try to be,"_ Irene informed her. _"I don't need to read your thoughts to sense your despair. Or your resentment."_

"Resentment?" Wendy gawked. "I don't resent Erza! This isn't her fault!"

" _Wrong generation of Scarlet."_

Pyrrha? What could she possibly have against Pyrrha? She'd just met her! And she seemed really nice! For goodness sake, she was Erza's daughter!

Erza's daughter. Erza's new family. The girl that Erza still saw.

Okay, maybe she did resent her a little. But that resentment was stupid! Pyrrha was Ruby's friend, Jaune's partner! She'd saved the girl's life on Beacon Tower and she'd do it again in a heartbeat. Just because finding Erza didn't turn out to be the first step she'd hoped it would be in regaining some of her lost family didn't mean she wished that her guildmate had been alone and miserable during her time on Remnant.

She just… she wanted her to remember _her_ as well. To remember Fairy Tail. Maybe it was selfish, but she needed her to remember! She… she needed her big sister back.

"How do we restore her memories?" she demanded. "Jellal lost his and then regained them sometime during the seven years we were away. There must be a way."

Irene sighed. _"Not as simple of one as you'd think. The human brain is one of the most powerful, yet fragile tools in existence. Amnesia isn't as simple as finding a light lacrima switch and flicking it on, you can't just remind her about Fairy Tail and hope everything comes back. At best, it might gradually come back over time on its own. Jellal Fernandes' likely took all seven of those years to return completely. If Erza's hasn't over the last eighteen, then her mind may have lost the ability to access those memories permanently. And if that is the case, there is no natural way to change that."_

Wendy paled. No, no, that couldn't be. After everything they'd been through, after all the enemies they'd fought, all the titans they'd felled, this couldn't be how it happened. Erza couldn't be gone because she couldn't remember. That was ludicrous! That was ridiculous! It was unfair!

She couldn't let it end like this. She _wouldn't_ let it end like this. She hadn't come this far just to lose everything.

"You said there's no 'natural' way to fix this," she clarified. "What's the unnatural way? Is it some magic or enchantment?"

Irene frowned, glancing away from the Fairy Tail wizard. _"There is… one enchantment. One that forces the brain to reconnect with all its memories."_

"There we go!" Wendy said. "That's perfect! Teach me how to do it and Erza can remember before we leave to get the Spring Maiden."

" _It's not that simple, little shrimp. The enchantment recovers all her memories once completed but that doesn't mean they all return once. They're split into categories, sensations. And the spell creates the necessary pathways in the brain by starting with those that hurt the most,"_ Irene explained. _"There is a reason it was never a widely used spell."_

But Wendy couldn't keep the grin from her face. "She's Erza. She can handle a little pain."

The Maiden of the Sky dashed after her friends, a dash of manic hope in her eyes. This was the answer, the first step forward. The first step to see a way onward, out of the pit of her loss. She'd reunite what scraps of her family remained, whatever it took.

No darkness could keep Fairy Tail apart.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

"So, we'll have to look out for Cinder and the kiddies?" End mused, leaning against the gas station's pillar, the stone marred with melt scars from the touch of his right arm's flesh. If he really let loose, he could turn the entire thing into lava, but he had more control than that, even if the recent news would no doubt test that patience. "How soon until they arrive?"

"Their bullhead will reach Haven by tomorrow," Happy reported. "We send them orders by Keeper if you're really worried, but unless you're there, they might not follow them—"

"Cinder knows better than to disobey me," End said. "Ensure she knows to stay in the vault, keep the others from sensing her maiden power. If diplomacy falls through, hiding our numbers will be crucial to taking them to the Grimmlands without accidentally killing them."

"In that case, you might want to confine Emerald as well," Happy suggested. "If we have to do this with trickery, it'll be best that they don't know she's there."

"Emerald? What's the shark got to do with this?"

"That's Mercury."

"Right, right, Emerald's the one with green hair. I knew that," End muttered. "The Gate of the Twins… yeah, that's a good idea. Nice one."

"Thanks!" Happy grinned. "So does that mean I can stay with you when you're with Yang—"

"No."

"Aw, come on!"

End sighed. "I've explained this to you before. With any luck, Raven will side with us willingly, but just in case I need you in the sky keeping an eye on everything. And Yang's going to question if you suddenly shoot in the sky as soon as we find the camp."

"Well… maybe," Happy grumbled. "I want to see Yang."

"And you will. But we have a job to do first. Business before pleasure." End smiled, fudging a hand through his bag. "But, sometimes the two can be mixed."

He removed his hand from his bag, revealing a sizable fish glistening in his grip. Happy's eyes widened and he instantly snatched the stinky morsel, already salivating. "Argus trout! Aye, sir!"

"Don't eat it all at once," End chuckled.

At that moment, the doors to the gas station blasted open. A lean guy with shaggy brown hair and a missing tooth was launched across the concrete, screaming as pink flames danced across his body.

Happy chuckled at the sight. "You too."

His wings spread out behind and his partner launched into the sky.

End smiled as he left and strode up to the burning man, frantically rolling across the ground as his crimson Branwen scarf slowly turned black. Normally the Ophiuchus wouldn't bother saving such scum, but this one could be useful. He opened his mouth and sucked in a deep breath, the flames heeding his call and streaking towards his maw.

Unfortunately, unlike every other fire he'd ever eaten, these flames didn't go down easy. They didn't burn, no blaze could burn him, but they _hurt_ , even if it was more an irritating sting than actual pain. Of course, given that the blast that had hit the bandit hadn't had anything resembling effort behind it, things would have been rather embarrassing if it was any trouble. Still, the power within the fire was specifically made to kill demons like him, so it was probably best not to push his luck. He wasn't getting any extra power from his little snack after all.

He coughed a bit settling everything down in his stomach, but with a burp of smoke, the blaze was extinguished. The bandit kept screaming for another ten seconds before he realized he was no longer on fire. He glanced about the station until his eyes finally landed on End.

"You… you saved me?" he gasped.

"Don't be so dramatic, you would have been fine as soon as you activated your aura," End sneered. "What's your name anyway? I don't care, but just calling you bandit in my head is going to get annoying."

"Wha… what?"

"Name. Now."

"Ah… Shay! Shay D. Mann!"

"Great," End replied. He leaned down and lifted the bandit up by the scruff of his filthy shirt. "Fly home, Shay. And tell your little birdie boss that me and her daughter are coming to pay her a visit."

"Yes, sir—wait, daughter? Fly?!"

End denied to grace that outburst with a reply. Instead, he proceeded to heft the scumbag over his shoulder and _chuck_ him into the forest. Shay screamed like a baby as he flew through the air, until the echo of a faraway crash signaled his landing. Hopefully, he'd taken the demon's advice and activated his aura, or he'd just wasted his time.

Well, not wasted. He glanced through the station's glass doors and spotted exactly the beautiful, one-armed blonde he'd hoped to find.

He took a deep breath and straightened the vest beneath his cloak. Time for a first impression.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

Yang smirked as the jerk went flying out the door. Teach him to listen when a girl tells him no. And doubly teach him not to make a grab for her hair. He was lucky she'd used her flesh arm.

The elderly store owner came forward and slid her water across the counter. "On the house. Been trying to get rid of that bandit for an hour."

"Thanks," Yang replied. She reached out and took hold of the bottle, exposing her empty right side to the gray-haired man.

"Oh," he said, his eyes widening. "I'm sorry, I didn't see. I'll open that right up for you—"

"No, no," she placated him softly. "I've got it handled."

She knew he meant well, but she couldn't the way he was looking at her. Like she was weak. Helpless. _Broken_. She wasn't. Life had dealt her a shit hand, but she had some bright spots too. Her pain hadn't broken her, and she would endure ten times worse if it meant helping her friends. And she would hit back with a hundred times its strength.

Her right side blossomed with dark purple fire, her flare arm forming into a demonic claw. Its fiery nail slipped under the water bottle cap and flicked it off. She smirked and poured the liquid down her throat. She was hardly feeling the heat outside, but dehydration was still a problem.

The storekeeper's eyes widened. "Woah. I've seen a lot of semblances but that's…"

"Awesome?"

"Creepy," the old man said. "Impressive, but creepy."

Yang glared at the storekeeper for a moment before shrugging. "To each their own I suppose."

"Indeed," a new voice chimed in. "And to me, it's one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen."

The blonde huntress cocked an eyebrow and turned towards the new arrival, the glass doors chiming as he entered. Clothed in a black cloak with only scaled arms and devilish horn peaking out, the temperature of the already scorching day rose with his entrance, the scant water remaining in Yang's bottle bubbling and evaporating into wisps of steam. Even more than that, some instinct in the Devil Slayer, and she could feel that it was that aspect specifically, was screaming at her that this person was dangerous. Very dangerous.

She glanced at the storekeeper, who had already taken a frightened step back. If this got violent, she was confident that she could take care of this guy, but she had a feeling she wouldn't be able to take him down in one punch like that jerk bandit. And if the battle required her to bust out her magic, the old man and his livelihood could be in danger.

Alright, like Lucy always said, never hurt to try talking first. And like Natsu always said, never hurt to kick their asses after talking failed.

"Look, buddy, I appreciate the flattery," Yang said. "But I'm here for a job, not a good time."

"Of course, you're here for a job," the cloaked figure replied, a smile visible upon his shadowed face. "You're finally going to find your mother, fulfill your purpose. Isn't that right, Yang?"

The Fairy Tail wizard tensed, her eyes narrowing at the mysterious guy who knew her name when she hadn't given it. She took a step forward, making sure she was between him and the storekeeper. "Who are you?"

"A friend," he said, his claws rising to the sides of his hood. "Though I warn you, I am not the one I appear to be."

The hood fell and the shadows fled his head, revealing a mop of wild _pink_ hair at the base of the devilish horns. Yang's eyes widened, a gasp rushing out of her mouth. However, it didn't even take a second before an enormous grin split her face, all feeling of danger evaporated.

"Natsu!" she cheered. She rushed forward and engulfed her old friend in a hug that would have crushed Ruby. As it was, it merely alerted her to the fact that the supposed Dragon Slayer before her had tensed.

She ended the hug early, looking up to find her recipient breathing hard. Licks of flames came out of his nostrils, his claws clenching and unclenching for several seconds. Yang glanced down and saw the floor of the store had melted around his boots.

"Natsu?"

"I… understand your confusion," the devilish figure said, tensing his jaw. "But as I mentioned before, I am not Natsu Dragneel." He extended a scaled hand towards her. "I am End. It's a pleasure to finally speak to you."

Yang's eyes narrowed. She unfurled her single remaining Ember Celica and raised her arms into a boxing stance. "Charmed. Why do you look like Natsu with devil horns and how do you know my name?"

"Everything that Natsu saw, I saw. Everything he heard, I heard. And so on and so on for the rest of the senses. Except now, I have my body back," End explained, gesturing to his form. "That's why it looks so familiar to you."

"Right," Yang muttered. "That's… neat? Still doesn't explain why you look like him."

"Someone who loved your teacher very much made me as a vessel just in case something ever happened to him. As such, my body was modeled to be as close to his appearance as possible," the demon continued, frowning at the final statement. "I would have preferred he hadn't been so obsessed, but there's nothing that can be done about it now. I assure you, I'm here to help."

Yang kept her glare locked on him for another moment before letting her stance down and shaking the still offered claw with her flame arm. If he'd wanted to fight, he'd already passed up a dozen perfect openings to throw the first punch.

Still, she really wasn't sure what to say. Shock aside, a fire demon who looked almost exactly like her magic mentor from another world suddenly showed up in front of her in the middle of nowhere talking about how he had all of said mentor's memories. Her grades may never have been as good as Weiss', but even she could tell that there was something fishy about this situation.

That said, End had been perfectly aware that she would mistake him for Natsu and had gone out of his way to correct that mistake. He had all of the Salamander's memories and no way of knowing that Wendy had told her about the anti-dragon transformation antibodies, so pretending to be him having undergone some Dragonforce mutation to get under her guard would have been a simple matter. But he hadn't. That was worth something. Not blind trust, but… she'd hear him out.

"So, you know I'm looking for my mom," she said. "I don't suppose you've got a clue where it is?"

End grinned. "Even better. My nose is just as good as a Dragon Slayer's. And I've got the scent of one of her rats that's scuttling back to the nest. Wherever Raven's holed up, she can't hide from us."

"Raven? You're looking for Raven Branwen?" the storekeeper gasped. "Missy, don't do it! You don't want to go messing with bandits!"

"Your concern is appreciated, old timer," End said. "But finding that woman has been my friend's purpose for quite some time. A bit of danger is hardly cause to retreat."

Yang frowned. He wasn't wrong about her desire to meet and confront Raven. Her talk with Qrow at Beacon had only confirmed that the woman had loved her once, which meant for her own peace of mind, she needed to know why she'd abandoned her. And if it was a shitty reason, that was fine. She already had a kickass super-mom, and she'd take great pleasure in burning the womb donor into the dirt.

But that was something to take care of later. She could sort out her issues with the past after she'd safely reunited with Ruby, Wendy, and the rest of their friends. Qrow was with them, so the fastest way to catch up would be to make the person with the portal semblance give her a lift. And the fastest way to track Raven down was to go with the person who had a way to her camp, instead of aimlessly searching the woods. The person who claimed he 'just wanted to help'.

… Well, End wasn't wrong. A bit of danger wasn't going to stop her. Whatever he or Raven or Salem threw at her, she'd hunker down through it and hit back with everything she had. Hell, he'd practically admitted he had some link to Natsu. If she kept him around long enough, maybe he would lead her to her missing guildmates.

"We'll take my ride," she said, marching past the demon. "You any better than Natsu on a bike?"

End smirked. "Don't worry. I won't puke in your hair."

Yang glared back at him. "You _better_."

The demon's grin only widened at her threat and the two set out on their way.

* * *

 **An extra huge thank you to my patrons: Gregg Tracton, Annaya Chan, Keith Tracton, Nora Okonus, KefkaesqueXIII, Christian Howard, SanyaBane, Matthew Blevins, David Wayman, G-Unit91, and Primordial Paper.**

 **Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!**

 **Go Forth and Conquer!**


	39. Chapter 38

**Beta-ed by xenosaiyan**

* * *

 _Makarov Dreyar considered himself a simple man. While he certainly wouldn't mind having enough money to do whatever he wanted, he had no great lust for it or power. Why would he? With the swarms of children he'd gathered in the very same guild that had raised him, he was the richest man on Earthland._

 _And in terms of entertainment, there was nothing better than grabbing a beer and watching them play._

" _It is the ultimate in anti-fire defense," Weiss preened, the rest of her team and the Strongest Team focused on the cube-shaped hunk of black ice she'd conjured at the end of the table. "It doesn't matter how powerful the flames, nothing can burn in a vacuum."_

" _What? That's ridiculous!" Natsu protested, chewing on a hunk of meat. "What kind of magic is that?"_

" _It's not," Weiss smirked. "It's science. Magic may be a parallel facet of the universe, but even its creations must obey the laws of physics."_

 _Ruby and Blake both cocked an eyebrow each._

" _I've got lasers in my eyeballs."_

" _And I'm pretty sure my powers play jump rope with the law of conservation of energy and mass."_

" _The creations of magic that aren't supernatural themselves," Weiss clarified. "Fire is still fire, whether it comes from a match, a man, or a dragon."_

" _I'd like to test that theory!" Natsu yelled, swallowing his food and stomping on top of the table. "I'll burn that vacuum to ash!"_

" _There's nothing to burn! The point of a vacuum is that there's nothing there!"_

 _Gray scoffed. "Don't bother, Weiss. Flames for Brains here has never put much effort into understanding anything he couldn't shove down his stomach."_

" _I understand enough to know I kicked your butt for three days straight, snowman!"_

" _Clearly you don't because you barely scratched me, lizard breath! Though I guess you might have trouble remembering with how hard I hit your head!"_

" _Stripper!"_

" _Moron!"_

 _Makarov sighed, closing the door to his office just as the daily fire and ice battle started up in full. Really, those two had just come back from three days of fighting with each other and they couldn't find common ground. With any luck Erza would be able to keep them under control on Warrod's job. They could not fail one of the guild's founders._

 _Of course, there were others whose job requests they could not afford to mess up. One of which was sitting before his desk, wrapped in a heavy cloak and veil._

" _It's safe," Makarov assured her. "This room has mystical protections. No one will overhear us."_

" _Thank you, Master Makarov," the figure replied, lowering her hood and detaching her veil, distinctive bright green hair flowing down her back. "No one must know I am here."_

 _Makarov nodded, coming around to his side of the table. Despite his long tenure in Fairy Tail and the often prominent position he'd held within the guild, it was not often he'd interacted with royalty. As such it had still come as quite a shock when he'd received a secret message from the capital and Princess Hisui E. Fiore had arrived incognito a few days later to follow up on it._

 _Putting together what Erza had told him of Jellal's investigations and Mest's latest undercover reports from within the Magic Council, he could surmise the reason for such secrecy._

" _This is about the missing Eclipse Gate pieces?" he asked, needing clarification._

 _The Princess's eyes widened. "How did you?"_

" _Doranbolt reached out to us to see if we knew anything. He tried to keep the specifics under wraps, but I have a great deal of experience reading panicked young'uns and he was not as subtle as he thought he was."_

" _Ah, yes," Hisui chuckled nervously. However, that nervousness only lasted a moment before her face turned to steel. Young she may have been, he should not think of the girl before him like one of his idealistic children. She had been trained since birth to rule a nation and recent missteps aside, she was more than capable of playing the part. "I suppose that means I shouldn't beat around the bush. The Royal Family has spared no expense over the last few months to locate the remains of the device, but our efforts have turned up little. All we have is one lead and when we sent the Hungry Wolf Knights to follow it up, they barely returned alive. With news of Tartaros."_

 _Makarov instantly frowned at the mention of that particular dark guild. "They stole the remains."_

 _Hisui's brow furrowed. "Possibly, but we do not believe so. The Hungry Wolf Knights reported that at least two of the Nine Demon Gates were engaged in combat with… someone. They weren't able to identify who, but the gate fragments seemed to be what the battle was over."_

" _Someone capable of battling two of the Nine Demon Gates at once?"_

" _Someone capable of_ defeating _two of the Nine Demon Gates at once," the princess elaborated. "My knights assure me that they would not have survived if Tartaros had been victorious."_

 _Makarov's frown deepened. It was reassuring that this new player was more merciful than the last of the Baram Alliance, but to have such power… to go toe-to-toe with them and win… the only people who came to mind were the Spriggan Twelve and it would be a nightmare if one of them were on Ishgar. Even if it wasn't them, he couldn't deny that someone of such strength remaining hidden for so long was… disconcerting. The only force on the continent with any chance of stopping them was the Ten Wizard Saints or possibly…_

" _Which is why my father and I wish to hire Fairy Tail to finish the retrieval mission… off the books," the princess said. "The crown simply doesn't have the firepower to do it ourselves, and I don't need to tell you just how important it is that Zeref's magic doesn't fall until the wrong hands."_

 _Makarov nodded. "Yes, this matter must be handled immediately. The Strongest Team will be setting out on another crucial mission, but I can have Laxus and Mirajane head out—"_

" _No," Hisui shook her head. "I'm sorry, Master Makarov. But if any hint of this mission were to leak to the Magic Council, the entirety of Doranbolt's coverup would be endangered. And as disastrous as whatever Tartaros has planned would be for the kingdom, the Magic Council and the government being set against each other would be little better. Anyone who participated in the Grand Magic Games is too well known to the public, they'd attract too much attention."_

" _I see," Makarov said, his wrinkled brow crinkling even further. The princess's concern was not unfounded. Even so long after the Grand Magic Games, the guild was astronomically popular. Mira had already shown him one tabloid that had reported on Natsu and Gray's recent mission, and their three-day brawl afterward. "You are aware that the teams we fielded consisted of the best the guild had to offer at the time. And I can't say I'm comfortable sending anything less against Tartaros."_

 _Hisui's stone façade cracked, a look of guilt overtaking her face. "I understand. The danger involved in this mission is nearly unprecedented. But Captain Arcadios told me of a Fairy Tail powerful wizard that did not appear at the games. A Gildarts Clive? Could he succeed in the mission?"_

" _Most definitely, but he is currently away. And even if we could contact him, by the time he returned, your lead very well may have gone cold," Makarov sighed, his mind already discerning the other course of action. "However, there may be an alternative option."_

 _He rose from his seat and made his way to the door, the princess replacing her hood as he did so. He cracked open the entryway, a wall of shouts and sounds of battle crashing into the office, a typical guildhall brawl in full swing. Erza stormed through the chaos, Ruby laughing by her side as their guildmates shattered before them. Blake dragged Lucy, Wendy, and Carla away from the fighting, shadow clones of the quartet allowing them to escape from any errant blow._

 _And of course at the center of it all were the eternal bickering spat of fire and ice, now in two generations. Natsu and Gray blasted each other across the room with continuously escalating displays of ice crafting and dragon fire. Meanwhile, Weiss threw up fortification after fortification, Yang grinned as she smashed through each one with a surge of pink flames, though Makarov noted that her blaze was temporarily extinguished whenever she struck one of the cubical defenses. It seemed this vacuum shield was as effective as the white-haired huntress had claimed it to be._

 _All of them were exquisite. In just six months, the four girls from another world had become just as ingrained in the guild as any of the Earthland natives. They were family, and their faith in that same family had made them confident, spirited, and, most importantly in this case, strong._

 _Erza had convinced them to wait until they had learned magic before they went after their only clue for a way home. Now, they had learned it, and Makarov could say with confidence that they stood among the very strongest in the guild, even if their relatively recent appearance on the scene meant they were completely unknown outside Magnolia. Tartaros, infamous for its secrecy, had shown itself. If there was any link between the dark guild and the book that had brought them to Earthland. Even if retrieving the Eclipse Gate's remains weren't of the utmost importance and they didn't fit the requirements of the job exactly, did he have the right to keep them from this lead?_

 _He didn't want to risk it. They were his children. He had seen how strong they had become, but he had also heard the whispers of the atrocities the Nine Demon Gates had committed. Could he risk them? Could he allow them to march into such danger?_

 _He had to. He had no right to keep this from them. Besides, as much as any father wished to protect their children forever, there always came a time when he had to let them go beyond his reach. All he could do was have faith in them, as was the Fairy Tail way._

" _Your highness," he said. "I would like to recommend Team RWBY for the job."_

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

"So, Oscar," Jaune said. "We were all showing a lot of team solidarity back at the house, but we don't actually have any idea how strong Pyrrha's gotten over the last few months. Any hints?"

"What?" Nora exclaimed. "You can't ask for spoilers, Jaune! Even if it is obvious that Pyrrha's gonna kick Ruby's butt."

Ren chuckled. "The point of this spar is to see for ourselves how our friends match up against each other. It does seem improper to estimate the end at their expense."

"At Ruby's expense."

"Obviously."

Jaune sighed and kept looking at the farmboy, who rubbed the back of his head. With the cane hidden under his shirt, it was hard to believe that this fidgeting kid was actually the reincarnation of their slain professor. Though, given his own mixed feelings on the headmaster and how much pressure he'd put on Pyrrha back at Beacon, that might have been for the best. None of that was Oscar's fault and he deserved to be judged on his own actions, not Ozpin's.

Besides, he was smaller than even Ruby. He'd feel like a jerk if he was mean to him.

"I'm not sure how good a source I'll be," Oscar said. "You guys don't know Pyrrha, but I've only got her and Ozpin to go off. Well, them and… nevermind."

Jaune cocked an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"It's… it's a long story. I've been seeing some of Ozpin's old memories, his… _my_ past lives," Oscar revealed. "The first one, the things he did, the things he saw, everything I've seen during my training seems weaker compared to them."

Ren's smile faded from his lips. "Things he saw… Salem?"

Oscar instantly flinched. "She was there."

Ren frowned, his hands making to close at his sides. But before they could become fists, Nora grabbed hold of his fingers, entwining her grip with his. They shared a look and Ren sighed, leaning his head against his partner's.

Still, Nora wasn't as bubbly as usual either. "How powerful was Salem? She was stronger than Pyrrha, okay, but how much stronger? Two Pyrrhas? Three?"

"Power is rarely so simple to measure."

The eyes of the students whirled around to Scarlet Nikos, Pyrrha's mother joining them in the front row of Haven's bleachers, Carla and Wendy at her heels, both of the Fairy Tail wizards, the Maiden of the Sky in particular, keeping their eyes locked on the older woman.

"Hey," Jaune greeted. "Everything alright with Headmaster Lionheart?"

Scarlet nodded. "Mr. Branwen is finishing up, but he should be able to reassure the professor that you're just here to reinforce the vault. If he _is_ a spy, he won't be able to tell his masters about Oscar's involvement or any other useful information."

"Wonderful," Jaune said. "You were saying about power?"

The red-headed woman's eyes flickered out to the arena proper, where Ruby, adorned in her Reaper's Rose Armor, stretched her arms while waiting for Pyrrha to change into her combat outfit. "The first thing you learn in arena fighting is that whoever is physically stronger is only part of who has the advantage in a fight. There are hundreds of weapon variations and combinations out there and even more semblances. Magic, from what little I've seen, is much the same. Correct, Miss Marvell? Miss Carla?"

Carla flinched but nodded. "Essentially. Though from what I've observed, there isn't too much variation in aura levels. With magic, some people can have origins twenty times the size of others, maybe even Second Origins."

"So we can measure power like that?" Nora asked.

"No," Scarlet shook her head. "We can measure raw energy like that, but power is something different. You're all aware of Pyrrha's semblance, I assume? She could have used it to crumple her opponent's weapons instantly at the beginning of every fight, but as mighty as that would have made her seem, I guarantee you she would have been dethroned within a season. By using it the way she did, she increased her power by withholding knowledge."

Jaune couldn't help the smirk that came to his lips. "Well, knowledge is power after all."

Nora groaned while Carla's face fell into her hand. Ren, Oscar, and even Wendy flinched.

Strangely enough, Scarlet chuckled. "She said you were charming."

Charming? Huh? Pyrrha had talked to her mom about him?

Scarlet pointed out to the arena where Ruby was pulling her arm across her chest. "You're not wrong. Knowledge _is_ power. But so are a great many other things, small factors that the average person doesn't necessarily think about. Whether you stretched beforehand, what you had for breakfast, what battlefield you fight upon, whether your opponent's abilities are a direct counter for your own, whether you have allies the enemy knows nothing of ready to slide a dagger in their back, all this and more plays a part in battle. Preparation is crucial, but upsetting your foe's preparation can be even more crucial. Even then, chance has slain more of the mighty than raw strength ever will."

"Like a disease," Oscar murmured, frowning.

"Precisely," Scarlet nodded. "You can measure Salem's raw magical energy in multiples of Pyrrha, likely _many_ multiples of Pyrrha. But power? That's something a bit more complex. If you can't match your opponent in a direct confrontation, there are other powers that you can use to emerge victorious."

Jaune's brow furrowed, his mind thinking back to all they'd gone through. Scarlet's philosophy felt like a more complete version of his own thoughts back at Higanbana before that weird faunus had shown up. According to Qrow, none of them, not even Wendy, could overwhelm a Gate in raw magic power, so they'd have to optimize every advantage they could get to come out victorious. After all, Happy hadn't been too much stronger than any one of them, and he'd managed to manipulate circumstances to nearly kill them all. Why couldn't they do the same in turn?

They could do this. Together, they could find a way to—

"Mr. Arc, I'd like to have a chat with you in private."

What?

Jaune was still blinking numbly when Scarlet gripped his arm and started dragging him away. He frantically looked back to his friends. The reactions that greeted him were pretty much what he had expected: Oscar raised an eyebrow, Carla was still facepalming, and Wendy's eyes were locked on her amnesiac guildmate. But most unexpected were Ren and Nora's responses, solemnly shaking their heads as if he'd somehow brought this upon himself.

Traitors! He'd get them back for this!

Once they were a decent distance away from the rest of the group, Scarlet released her hold and whirled around to face him, her brown eyes narrowed. Jaune gulped down his terror. Ruby and Wendy hadn't been able to stay quiet about how amazing the legendary Erza Scarlet was, the Queen of the Fairies who struck terror into the hearts of all the guild's enemies and many of its members, a goddess of the battlefield rivaled by few. Some of that was possibly the two girls' loyal adoration for their mentor coloring their words, but with the woman herself standing before him now, missing memories or not, he could not help but tremble. After all, no one had said the legendary wizard who had slain demons and battled dragons was his partner's mother!

He keenly remembered that the first words out of Ruby's mouth upon her return had been that Erza would kick his ass for being in the girls' room. And Pyrrha had kissed him…

"Hmm, yes," the woman hummed, interrupting his thoughts. "You're about what I expected."

"Huh?" Jaune stuttered. "A…about what you expected for what, ma'am?"

"For you. It took a bit of coaxing, but I was able to get Pyrrha to tell me about her 'charming, determined, incredible' team leader," Scarlet explained, a playful grin blossoming across her face. "I saw you fight at the Vytal Festival, so I tempered my expectations a bit from her glowing review."

Pyrrha had really said all that stuff about him? To her mother? Jaune couldn't help the blush that rose to his cheeks, glancing away from the legendary wizard.

"She gives me too much credit. Before she got to me, I was hopeless," he said. "Everything I learned about fighting, I learned from her."

"I know. She learned it from me," Scarlet teased. "Like I said, I saw your fights at Amity. It wasn't difficult to recognize the forms I taught her. Yours could still use some work."

"No arguments there. Been focusing on magic for the last few months, but I can't let the rest of my skills decay," Jaune concurred. "Heh, maybe I can ask Pyrrha for a refresher course?"

Scarlet raised an eyebrow. "Will you?"

Jaune's eyes widened, realizing exactly what his last words could have been taken as.

He frantically raised his hands. "That wasn't an innuendo! I really do just mean to ask for a refresher course—"

"I am aware," Scarlet interrupted, silencing him instantly. "I am asking if you really will ask her for help. Before I was dogpiled when you all arrived, I noticed that you were the only one not hugging her."

"That? That was nothing, I just didn't want to crowd her…" Jaune stopped when he noticed the Nikos matriarch frowning. He sighed. "Look, it's… it's not that I don't care about her, or that I'm mad at her or anything. It's just… awkward. The last time we saw each other, she… well…"

"Kissed you before shoving you in a locker and going off to fight alone?"

"… how did you—"

"A bit of coaxing. And lots of strawberry ice cream," Scarlet revealed. "She's afraid you hate her for it."

"Hate her?" Jaune gasped. "How could I hate her? I was mad at her, sure. I still am, a bit. She's my friend and I'm her team leader, I'm not happy she went off to fight a battle she didn't think she could win. But I get why she did it, and I get why she sent me away. And hate her? Never."

Scarlet smiled. "I see. So it's the other thing then."

A warm pressure ghosted across Jaune's lips.

"Yeah. The other thing," he confirmed. "Didn't realize how she felt until then."

"You're young. So is she. I'm not surprised," Scarlet noted. "Do you have feelings for her?"

Jaune flinched, slowly shuffling away from his partner's mother. "What answer lets me get out alive?"

Scarlet glared at him, a dark red aura seeming to radiate around her. " _The truth_."

"Th… the truth," Jaune stammered, his hands unconsciously going for his sword. "Well… that is an excellent… idea… that I… um… uh…"

All of a sudden, the intimidating miasma disappeared. Scarlet's face was still hard, but she ceased pushing out killing intent, looking on Jaune not as a looming gargoyle at the gates of hell but as a… well… a mother. A mother lion that could maul off his head if he threatened her cub, but not without good reason.

"Jaune, I only want to hear the truth," she assured him. "Pyrrha has feelings for you, but if you don't share that particular affection, I want you to be honest about it with both me, yourself, and her."

"Even if it hurts her?"

"Better than you trying to fake it for her and dragging out the pain."

"I… I don't know," Jaune confessed. "I don't know. Pyrrha is… she's incredible. Without her, I would be so much… less, than I am now. She made me a better person."

"That doesn't mean you owe her this."

"No. But I can't say I ever gave the idea much thought before. And now that I am, after the Tower, I still don't know. But… I think I want to find out."

Scarlet smiled and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "That's what young love is for. You may live happily ever after. You may discover you're better as friends. But nothing healthy can happen if you don't talk to her. Hash this out. No matter what happens, she is still your partner."

A small smile twitched onto Jaune's face. "Yeah. And I'll still be hers."

"That's the spirit!" Scarlet slapped him on the back, driving every ounce of air from his lungs (through his armor!) before whirling around to the arena with a pleased grin on her face. "And if you do abuse her, no one will ever find your body."

"That seems… fair," he croaked, limping up to join her at the rail of the stands. Just in time, the other combatant had arrived at last.

He'd never been blind to Pyrrha's beauty, there was a reason he'd called her 'hot stuff' before he'd learned her name, and in his opinion, her combat outfit had been her best look, even better than the gorgeous crimson gown she'd worn to the dance. Watching her stride into battle, her head held high and filled with confidence as her weapons swayed at her side, it was like watching a war goddess descend from the heavens.

Her new suit was different, but he'd call it more an expansion than an outright change. Her armor was relatively the same, if a far darker shade of bronze. The exposed areas of skin between her plates were filled, a tightly woven black mesh interlaced with small metal rectangles covering the vulnerable sections. Her combat heels were gone, replaced by sturdy brown boots with large toes, the right one noticeable thicker around the heel.

But the most notable changes were the ones they'd already seen, the new gauntlets adorning her forearms. The top surfaces of each had sizable protrusions bumping up from the rest of the devices. If spending time with Ruby had taught Jaune anything about weapon design, he'd bet good lien that those areas were where the main weapons would come out.

"Styx and Cerberus," Scarlet revealed, watching where his gaze fell. "Pyrrha was always fond of the kingdom's old legends, but I preferred Akouo and Milo."

"The gods of speech and understanding," Jaune remarked, recalling what his partner had told him about how she'd named her weapons. "These new ones… the river of hatred that guards the underworld—"

"And the three-headed hound that waits to devour any damned soul beyond it."

"Edgier than I remember her being," Jaune frowned. Though, it instantly disappeared when he saw the smile on both combatants' faces. "Let's see if Ruby can stop drooling over them long enough to fight."

Now, it was Scarlet's turn to frown. "That armor of hers is quite… elaborate. I can't say I can imagine wearing something that inspired it."

Jaune's brow furrowed. "They really look up to you."

"They look up to 'Erza'. Miss. Marvell hasn't taken her eyes off me. She wants to use some enchantment to restore my mind," Scarlet mused. "They're good kids. But when they look at me, they don't see _me_. They see her. Their Fairy Queen."

"But… aren't you?" Jaune pointed at the dark blue guildmark on her upper arm. "I mean, even if you looking just like her is somehow a coincidence, they'd recognize if your mark was different, right?"

Scarlet glanced down at the tattoo and scoffed. "I've had this thing for as long as I can remember. Never gave it much thought. Now, they say it means I'm someone else. Someone I don't even remember. And they want her back."

Jaune cringed. Yeah, he could understand a bit of what that felt like. Not to the extremes that Scarlet was handling obviously, but people looking to you to be someone you're just not? That was essentially what his first few weeks of Beacon had been, everyone waiting for him to suddenly be the amazing huntsman he was supposed to be. But that situation had been his own fault for sneaking into the school. Scarlet had never asked to be thought of as Erza.

But Ruby, Wendy, and Carla needed her to be. They needed her to be the mentor they lost, to be some proof that the guild they left behind was not completely gone or corrupted. Even still, just because they needed her to be that, did that mean Scarlet had any responsibility to become her?

"You know, even if you do become Erza again, that won't necessarily mean that you'll… stop being Scarlet Nikos," he said, hoping to comfort her. "I mean, you're not going to stop being Pyrrha's mom or Rouge's sister just because you regain some memories."

"Regain. It's funny. Just the nature of the word implies that I've lost something. But something lost doesn't necessarily mean something I'd be better off with," Scarlet whispered. "Back when I first woke up, I would have given anything to know who I was. But as time went on, Pyrrha was born and I was adopted into the family, I just stopped caring. The present was all I could ask for, so why concern myself with the past, with whatever pain was so terrible that I had to forget? I moved on. I didn't… I don't feel like I'm missing anything. And yet, those three… they've clearly lost so much."

"You want to help them," Jaune realized.

Scarlet nodded. "They're Pyrrha's friends. They saved her life at Beacon. If I can ease their suffering, I want to. But whatever was in the past, whatever pain haunted Erza's life, I'm not sure I can be who I am if it becomes mine again. Maybe not even the person they remember."

Jaune sighed, both him and the redheaded woman staring out towards the arena, the viewscreen above flashing on to display Ruby and Pyrrha's aura levels. Both of his friends had suffered so much since Beacon, both of them irrevocably changed by the events and revelations of the Fall. They had no choice in the matter, all they could do was grit their teeth, build their strength and brace themselves to face the coming storm.

Scarlet was not a coward, no one who'd raised Pyrrha could be. She had made clear that she was more than willing to join the fight against Salem with everything she had. But she had a choice when it came to the memories of Erza, and no matter if she chose to try to get them back or not, each path carried a risk. If she did not reclaim the memories, she might not be as powerful as she could be in the war to come. But if she did, she could lose who she was, either by her past subsuming who she has become, or the rush of pain long forgotten shattering a psyche built on its absence.

If the choice was his, Jaune honestly couldn't say which he would pick.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

As soon as Pyrrha stepped into the ring, Ruby couldn't stop smiling.

She'd been looking forward to seeing how far her friend had grown in magic and what her new gauntlets could do, but just looking at her got her blood pumping. The dark brown plate, the interwoven metal mesh, the new flat-footed boots (suck it Weiss and your ridiculous devil shoes!), everything about her just looked so cool! Plus, now that she knew her friend was _Erza's daughter_ , that just made her even more amazing! Oh, she could hear the blood pumping through her veins. She hadn't been this excited for a match since she'd first assembled her requip arsenal.

"All set?" Pyrrha called. "I don't want you at anything less than your best, Ruby!"

The red reaper grinned. In a flash of white light, Crescent Rose was in her hands. She twirled the scythe around and thrust it towards her friend. "Don't worry about me! I'm about to prove that your team solidarity is no match for my ability to kick butt!"

Pyrrha chuckled and dropped into a combat stance.

She flicked out her left gauntlet and a meter-wide layered shield unwound over her forearm. She did the same to the other, but the right weapon only expanded into about a third of its counterpart, like a metal war fan strapped atop the limb, three knobbing protrusions sticking out from its back like hilts.

Ruby's drool must have been showing, because her friend laughed again.

"Styx and Cerberus, if you'd like to know their names," Pyrrha grinned. She knew her so well!

The champion spared no more time for words and dashed towards the red reaper.

Ruby grinned and planted her sniper scythe into the arena, unleashing a barrage of dust rounds downrange. Unsurprisingly, while Pyrrha raised Styx to block the shots, a black mist seeped over Crescent Rose, twisting the rifle and throwing off the red hooded huntress' aim just enough to make her miss. As expected, it was simple, yet elegant.

Yet, at this point in their friendship, predictable.

Her requip flowed through her and bursts of white light summoned five swords and spears from her pocket dimension right above her head. The barrage of steel streaked towards the Mistralian huntress, coming at her from above and both sides, just as a similar glow flowed over Crescent Rose.

Pyrrha maintained her charge, unconcerned by the raining metal. Understandably, since even with their lightning speed, the weapons froze midair, each encased in the power of her semblance. They twirled around, ready to return to their master point first.

Ruby smirked and dismissed them with a thought. She'd fired just in case, but she hadn't expected them to work if Pyrrha really was at a hundred percent. Still, it'd provided evidence that her friend had really recovered from Beacon Tower, and given her a bit of time to switch out Crescent Rose for something a bit more suited to the current fight.

Because as much as she'd bristled at Team JNPR's teasing, they weren't wrong. Pyrrha was a really poor matchup for her, fast enough to react to her semblance boosted rushes and strong enough to deal crippling damage when she hit back. Magic didn't really tilt the odds either. Of the three Ruby could potentially access, the only one she had mastered was Requip. She'd barely made any progress recreating the complex spell structure of Fairy Glitter without Mavis' help and what breakthroughs she'd made in her Silver Spirit Slayer Magic were still limited. Thus, she'd have to rely on her armor's added benefits to win this.

Thus, she spawned Tulip's Aegis on her forearm and Waning Thorn in her opposite hand. Anything ranged would just go off-target or get swung into her, so she had to go with something that wouldn't hurt her if it was swung into her, at least until she was ready. At least this way she would have some form of defense if things didn't go her way.

No more time to formulate one, the Invincible Girl had arrived.

She didn't leap as the old Pyrrha might have, galloping into battle like a mighty stag through the plains, but instead slammed right into Ruby's hoplon, like a bull crashing into the matador at last. Her right gauntlet led the charge, while her left pulled back, its layers pulling back just slightly as thin black barrels emerged from its depths.

Ruby's eyes widened. It was also a gun! That was so cool!

She tried to raise Tulip's Aegis, but Pyrrha's semblance combined with her other hand keeping pressure on it kept the shield from getting into the barrel's path. Styx span into a blur and a stream of bullets rained down on Ruby, each one biting at her aura.

The reaper activated her semblance and burst into a stream of roses, lifting herself above and behind the spinning shield and spreading a mess of petals around the battlefield. She stabbed forward with Waning Thorn, thrusting her rapier right into the opening between Styx's gun barrels and steel, jamming the rotation. And yet, she heard another burst of gunfire, one just to her right.

Her eyes widened right as she saw Pyrrha's smirk.

The three hilts on the back of Cerberus hadn't just been for decoration. Three bronze short swords had been shot out of the war fan, or rather sheath, and into midair. Black aura overtook the blades, reorienting them and sending them streaking for Ruby, like a trio of bloodthirsty hunting hounds.

She raised her shield, but once again it was useless. There were no arms swinging these swords, which meant there were no limits to their possible angles of assault. No matter where she put her hoplon, she could only block them if she caught them mid-strike, otherwise they'd reorient and nip at her from an opening, shaving off chunk after chunk of aura.

For Pyrrha to be able to control them with such precision during battle, she had even more control over her semblance than Ruby thought. With that information, her new strategy fell into place within the young huntress' mind. While back at Beacon she'd relied on elaborate acrobatics and footwork to weave her way through her foes, her new tactics relied far more on speed, strength, and pinpoint control of those aspects. The metal plates layered within her mesh armor and what Ruby would bet good lien were steel-toed boots allowed her to command her own body like a puppet on strings, amplifying her natural physical abilities with her metaphysical ones. It was a strange hybrid of Nora, Ren, and the Mistral champion's own techniques, but she'd be lying if she said it wasn't putting the pressure on.

Another burst of her semblance and she rolled across the arena, escaping the storm of steel, a rain of rose petals littering her path. With the distance she'd gained, she should have a second to readdress the situation and—"

" **Meteor!** "

Oh right, magic.

Golden light enveloped Pyrrha and she blasted towards Ruby like a cannon-shot. Once more, the red reaper raised Tulip's Aegis to block, her opponent's fist ramming into the shield. Unlike before, the Requip wizard noticed a fist-shaped dent in the metal. On her side! She hadn't activated the defense magic, but seriously! Not even Yang had dented it before!

She didn't have time to gush about how awesome that was though. The golden glow that increased her strength hadn't faded like her uses at Beacon and her speed was still boosted as well. Her fists rained down in a flurry of black and yellow wrath, joined by her trio of swords that feel from the sky like thunderbolts.

Ruby dipped deep in her arsenal, summoning shield after shield from her reserve to intercept the blades and get battered aside in the process, their mistress instantly zapping them back to her hold as she dodged. Tulip's Aegis didn't get another dent, but the huntress had to put all her strength in overpowering Pyrrha's semblance as she tried to wrench it aside.

Eventually, the red hooded huntress had no choice but to use her semblance again to escape the onslaught. But Pyrrha's Meteor remained active and with a flash of her semblance to reorient her body and her weapons, she shot after Ruby, matching her pace with the fluttering rose petals.

Her speed, her strength, her magic, Pyrrha had used the last few months to craft a style that maximized all of them, simple, but brutally effective. She really was the prodigy among their year of prodigies. Already, she'd cut down a full third of Ruby's aura, while she'd only incurred the cost of her semblance and a few glancing blows.

The silver-eyed girl grinned, her eyes glancing out to the stands where Erza watched. It was all so perfect. The stage was set, her friend was magnificent, and her mentor was seeing the entire thing. Now, it was time to unveil what she'd worked so hard to create. And win this fight.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

All things considered, Pyrrha thought things were going quite well. She was still a bit disappointed that Wendy wasn't able to fight her with the same power she'd used to defeat Cinder, but honestly, it was just a treasure to be reunited with her friends. Sure, Jaune had been more distant than usual and probably hated her for sending him away, and her mom was apparently Ruby's wizard teacher who'd lost her memory, but Ren and Nora hugged her! That was wonderful! And there was a talking cat!

Yeah, things were great! And Ruby had held out against Cinder longer than she had. There was a lot she could learn from her. Yes!

Besides, this spar really was a lot of fun. With the rapier jammed in Styx, her shield gun was neutralized unless she took a moment to properly remove the blockage, a moment that was ill-advised at the moment. Her plan to force Ruby into the formation she wanted was going well so far, but against a fighter of her speed and skill, maintaining the momentum of the battle was critical. She could not let up! She could not give her a chance! One opening was all it would take and then she'd be dead!

… metaphorically. This was a spar. She knew Ruby wouldn't kill her, and she wouldn't kill Ruby. This was to help them both improve. They were friends.

 _Cinder_ was the enemy.

And she wouldn't show any mercy. So, if she wanted to prepare Ruby and make sure she survived whatever battles were to come, she couldn't either. She had been pushing herself bit by bit so far, preparing a more extravagant endgame just in case while checking to see how each portion of her new style worked against an opponent that wasn't her mother or Ozpin. Now it was time to end it, simply and brutally.

Despite the rampant combat that huntsmen saw, Pyrrha hadn't met many other than herself, Jaune, and Cardin of all people who used armor. Thus, her use of her semblance had been limited to weaponry. But since Ruby was wearing her own, well… there was only one thing to do. She threw out her power, ready for the strength of her soul to crumple the crimson wings like tissue paper.

But… they didn't?

Ruby flashed her shield away and somersaulted away from Pyrrha, another burst of her semblance rocketing her just ahead of Meteor and Cerberus' blades while scattering rose petals around the arena floor, her armor unbent and unbroken.

The Mistral Champion's eyes narrowed, making sure to keep up the attack. What had happened? Had she been so focused on controlling her armor and weapons that she'd directed the flow of her semblance wrong? No, she'd mastered both guiding her magic and her semblance. She'd worked on it for weeks! This was something else. But what?

The pattern continued. She soared after Ruby, they traded blows with her smashing off chunks of her friend's aura and only receiving the barest counters in return, then Ruby would use her semblance to escape, but still down a path that worked for Pyrrha, who was already in hot pursuit, careful not to step on the petals and slip… petals…

Pyrrha's eyes widened, the armor's name suddenly clicking into place. But that was ridiculous.

She reached out with her semblance once more… and instantly recalled that magic did not care what she thought was possible.

"That armor," she growled. "It's not made of metal."

Ruby smirked. "It used to be. But once I got the hardening magic working, I figured, why not?"

The scale mail wings of her armor, her armor made of _literal rose petals_ , took on a soft scarlet. The red hooded huntress swept her hands forward, a surge of winds bursting outward. Pyrrha realized what was happening immediately and leapt away, infusing her semblance through her armor to give her extra speed.

It wasn't enough. Ruby had laid her trap well. Every use of her semblance had scattered her signature rose petals across the arena, and now each and every one of them was tinged with a mystical shine, straight as arrows and floating in the air. A hundred thousand blades that Pyrrha's semblance couldn't touch. And all of them were coming for her.

The champion pulled back Cerberus' blades, raising Styx to aid in the defense. In a great scarlet tornado, Ruby's petals fell on her, each one slashing like a knife. She did her best to beat them back, and the greater size of her weapons did help get most of them, but dozens of stings still made it past her guard, chipping away at her aura bit by bit.

She couldn't let this go on. Already, she could see Ruby's eyes starting to glow with silver light, even as her hands continued to direct the assault of her petals. If Pyrrha didn't regain control of the momentum now, she was going to lose the match. And she could not lose. She could not afford to be weak.

Fortunately, her larger plan was still in motion. Six markers had been laid over the course of the battle. Just one more would be simple.

" **Meteor!** " she yelled, bursting out of the petal storm and soaring to the opposite end of the battleground from Ruby. She used her semblance to control her descent, ensuring that the weight fell on her left foot. The cushion boot on her other foot would allow her a little leeway if she needed it, but her right heel was still her most vulnerable area. Her new style was designed to minimize pressure on it, and she couldn't ruin that training now.

Predictably, Ruby's petals stampeded after her, spinning like tiny buzz saws, vanguards to their mistress' greater assault. But now that they were coming at Pyrrha from one direction instead of every angle, she could defend against it.

She slammed her hands together in the practiced pose, magic flowing out from her origin. " **Bariasuta!** "

The spell of the barrier star flashed into existence around her, a concave shield of interconnected clear octagons. The rose petals slammed into the shield, ripples emanating through the light as they bounced away. What they had in numbers, they lacked in raw power. They could not penetrate Pyrrha's wall.

But they were Ruby's weapons. They wouldn't give up so easily. The petals swarmed around the barrier, freezing in midair at various points on the shield's perimeter. And they started to change color?

Something was up there. But she'd planted the final marker, seven for seven. She placed one hand over the other, two fingers from each extended. She had this won. She would not lose.

She would not be weak.

* * *

 _ **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

"Woah," Oscar murmured, his eyes locked on the battle before her.

He'd seen Pyrrha and Ozpin spar before, but for that he'd always had a first-person view from within his body. Now with an outside perspective on a wizard's duel, he knew exactly how theoretically dangerous the blows exchanged by his allies were, but between the golden starlight and storm of rose petals, he couldn't deny how beautiful it was.

Of course, nothing said a beautiful thing couldn't be dangerous. As his recent memory discovery proved.

' _Why didn't you tell me?'_ He queried to his mind.

" _Many reasons,"_ Ozpin sighed. _"You'd learn eventually. It didn't matter. And… it was too painful to remember."_

Oscar winced. _'I'm sorry about that. But don't you think the others deserve to know what this war is really about?'_

" _They know what it's about. I assure you, whatever our past, I oppose Salem now because her efforts will lead to the end of humanity if she is not stopped."_

' _Do you swear?'_ Oscar demanded. _'This isn't just some marital spat that got out of hand?'_

" _That's… one way of putting it, I suppose. But I swear that the stakes are precisely as high as I've said. We may die. Our allies may die. But we cannot let her win. Or everything ends."_

"Oscar?"

"Huh?" the farmboy stuttered, turning to face Wendy, who raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh, sorry. Did you say something?"

"No, you just looked lost in thought," the blue-haired girl said. "Were you talking with Ozpin?"

"Ah, yeah," Oscar chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "Having an ancient wizard in your head, sometimes you start a conversation and you forget no one else can hear, you know?"

Wendy's eyes widened. "Uh, no, I don't. No, not at all."

Oscar flinched. "Oh, sorry." He didn't think he'd said anything to offend, but he wasn't exactly knowledgeable about the nuances of Fairy Tail's culture, and technically Wendy was an ancient wizard.

"No, no, it's alright," she assured him. "It's just… nothing. Oh, look, Ruby's using the color change magic on her armor. I'm glad it's not exploding."

"Exploding?" Oscar squeaked. "Is that a thing that can happen?"

"Awesome!" Nora cheered, leaning over the stands. "Why hasn't it happened yet?!"

"Because Ruby and Wendy knew what they were doing," Carla said. "The color change is simple, though I'm not quite sure why you included it."

"Well, you see—"

"Oh, wait, I know this!" Nora exclaimed, jumping in front of Wendy. "Things get their color based on which wavelength of light they reflect. So, by changing what color an object is, you change what light it reflects."

Wendy blinked. "That's… exactly right. You actually remembered what I told you about light refraction?"

"Of course! I have to know how to make my enemies naked," she shifted her grin towards Ren. "And maybe someone else too. Right, Ren?"

"Why are they still going?" Ren said, his eyes locked on the battle while Nora sighed.

Oscar's eyes whipped towards the arena. The rose petals had frozen in midair, angled all around Pyrrha, their color changing from red to silver. Based on what Ozpin had told him of Ruby's magic, and the silver glow growing in her eyes, it was simple enough to guess what the purpose of the refraction was.

And with a glance at the viewscreen, even simpler to realize why Ren was so concerned.

"Ruby—"

" **Silver Spirit Wail!** "

She roared and a stream of silver light erupted from her gullet, barreling straight for the petals. What Oscar suspected would have happened however, never did.

Four ethereal golden ankhs shimmered into existence between the blast and the petals, each slanted so the light wouldn't strike them head-on. When it hit, the silver surge bounced off the barriers, losing momentum with each strike and directed off course from the petals.

It probably would have still taken a good chunk out of the stands if Ruby didn't cut it off on her end. Her confused eyes stared out to the bleachers straight at Jaune, who held out his hands even as the ankhs faded.

" _Good, mister Arc noticed as well."_

' _Yeah, but I don't think Pyrrha has!'_

Indeed, the Mistral champion's eyes were closed in concentration, her stance set for—oh shit!

" _May the seven stars cast judgment upon you_ …"

Oscar's eyes widened. _'Ozpin!'_

" _Get in there!"_

' _What! I can't do anything against—'_

" _Use the cane!"_

Oscar wasn't entirely sure what the cane they'd gotten from Qrow would do, but when the ancient wizard was sounding so panicked and giving him orders, he figured it was best not to delay. He leapt down from the stands, immensely grateful that aura cushioned several foot falls, and rolled into a sprint. Thanks to Pyrrha's training, he actually managed to get to Ruby before everything went to hell and seven points of blinding golden light flared to life across the arena, connecting to form a familiar constellation.

"Huh?" the red hooded girl exclaimed. "Oscar, what's going on—"

" **Grand Chariot!** "

Pyrrha's words cracked through the air, each of the markers on the ground shooting upward, their formation taking shape above as below.

And then they fell, seven stars blazing with power.

Oscar wasn't entirely sure what he was doing, but as soon as he unfurled the cane, his body seemed to know what to do. He snagged Ruby and pulled her down, kneeling himself. He poured magic into the cane, somehow knowing gears within gears would turn.

With a guttural roar he didn't know was within him, he slammed the staff into the ground. An emerald energy dome, crackling with power, sprang to life around the pair of wizards. Just in time, for the judgment of the stars plummeted all around them.

For several moments, all Oscar could see was gold, shining and glorious, the wrath of heaven encompassing his sight. Fortunately, when those moments passed, despite his pants and the sweat dripping down his forehead, the green energy dome was still there and both he and Ruby were still alive and in one piece!

Unfortunately, the surrounding arena was not. It was significantly more… crater-y than before. As in, every inch of the stadium that wasn't under the emerald dome was now a crater. Wait, did that mean they were on a hill…

" _Focus, Oscar."_

' _Right. Sorry.'_

"Oscar! Jaune!" Pyrrha called out, glancing between the two. "What are you doing—"

"Pyrrha, look!" Jaune shouted, pointing towards the viewscreen. The display flickered, slightly cracked from the spell, but it still clearly showed Ruby and Pyrrha's aura levels.

Both of which were in the red, the latter's a decent chunk higher.

The redhead's eyes widened, her hands rising to cover her mouth. "I… I didn't… Ruby, I'm sorry—"

"That was awesome! Your gauntlets were so badass and your armor plays to your semblance so well!" Ruby cheered. She leapt to her feet and bounced over to Pyrrha, a massive smile spread across her face. "I thought I had you with my armor, but your magic is so _awesome_!"

"But… I lost track of the aura levels. If Oscar hadn't been there, I would have—"

"Eh, I didn't notice either. Jaune had to protect you from my attack too. Good thing, otherwise it would have hit the petals and then you'd be trapped in the cage—oh wait," Ruby burst into rose petals and appeared in front of Oscar's face. "You blocked that massive blast without breaking a sweat! How'd you do that? I thought your thing was time magic!"

"Oh, uh," Oscar stuttered, a light blush spreading over his cheeks, desperately trying to look at Ruby's eyes and above. "It is. I think it's the cane. It's some kind of magic… shield… artifact that Ozpin made a long time ago. It's not me."

"What are you talking about?"

"Huh?"

Ruby grinned at him, pointing toward her Reaper's Rose's wings. "My armor gives me extra capabilities, extra powers, but it can't use them on its own. The cane is the same. It's a powerful tool, but _you_ still made the shield."

Oscar glanced away. "Oh. I guess I never thought about it that way. I mean, this is the first time I've ever used it. I'm not even sure what I did."

"A weapon is just an extension of yourself," Ruby encouraged, giving him a thumbs up. "It's kind of like magic in a way, growing alongside you, getting amazing new upgrades as you learn how to handle awesome new skills. Don't worry if you haven't figured everything out yet. You will."

"I… thank you," Oscar said. "You… were really amazing in the fight too. Unless Scarlet or Ozpin are in the ring, I've never seen anyone stand up to Pyrrha like that."

Ruby chuckled nervously and scratched the bottom of her chin. "Yeah well, it wasn't easy. Pyrrha is really amazing. Even with my armor, she would have vaporized me if you hadn't been there."

"No, I wouldn't have gotten that far."

Both Oscar and Ruby turned around, Pyrrha walking up to them, her eyes on the floor. "If Jaune hadn't blocked your attack, whatever plan you had to get around Bariasuta would have gone off before I finished Grand Chariot."

"Which you used in a _spar_."

Oscar, Ruby, and Pyrrha all went ramrod straight, a familiar aura of dread and terror sinking over them all. Mustering all the strength of will he possessed, the three huntsmen turned ever so slowly to face the crimson demon marching towards them.

"Mo… mo… mother…" Pyrrha stammered, unable to meet Scarlet's eyes.

"You used a spell with the strength of a meteor in a _spar_ ," the elder Nikos glared. "Do you have any idea how wrong this could have gone?"

Ruby stepped forward. "It wasn't just her fault—"

"Yes, you _both_ should have paid attention enough to know that you'd reached the red," Scarlet declared, turning her stare on the young huntress and freezing her in her tracks. "On the battlefield, you must be aware of everything that is going on. Otherwise, you risk falling into an enemy's trap or hurting your allies."

Ruby opened her mouth to argue, but suddenly closed it, her brow furrowing in thought. "The battlefield is another part of our arsenal. If we don't pay attention, we abandon it as a weapon."

Scarlet's eyes widened. "Well… yes. But you both still need to take responsibility for your reckless actions."

" _Perhaps I should assist in this?"_

' _Please. She's terrifying.'_

His vision flashed green and Oscar shifted into being a passenger.

Ozpin compressed his cane and stored it away, hidden within their clothes so Lionheart didn't accidentally see it. He stepped forward between Scarlet and the young huntresses, a genial and calming smile on his face.

"Ms. Nikos, if I may make a suggestion?" he spoke up, drawing everyone's attention. "While I agree that ignoring the parameters of a spar and nearly irreparably harming each other, even by accident, is something that cannot and should not be ignored, we shouldn't lose track that everyone _is_ okay. If this were Beacon, my suggestion would be to let the team leaders handle the matter."

Ruby raised her hand.

"And since Ms. Rose is a team leader, a teacher would speak with her on the matter. Probably Glynda."

"She's also terrifying."

"Quite," Ozpin nodded. "So if that is alright with you, perhaps that is the way to handle the matter?"

Scarlet's eyes narrowed. Fortunately, it only took a glance out to the stands, specifically at Jaune, for her to smile. "I believe you may be correct. I assume you'll handle Ms. Rose?"

"I do seem to be the only professor of hers present."

"What? Hold up!" Ruby squeaked. "What about Uncle Qrow? He was a teacher at Signal."

…

…

…

"Yeah, you're right."

Oscar chuckled inside his mind before his eyes narrowed inside his consciousness. _"You sure you want to have Jaune handle Pyrrha? He seems like a nice guy, but we haven't been able to help her at all and we've been trying since training started."_

' _Which is precisely why I want to have him take a shot. Both Scarlet and our own attempts to help improve Ms. Nikos' mental state have proven themselves ineffective. Mr. Arc may not have the same experience we do, but he is Pyrrha's partner and leader. He is a reminder of a simpler time. With any luck, he will be able to make headway in tempering her determination.'_

Oscar's vision flashed and control of his body returned to him just in time to frown, the rest of the group rushing down from the stands. However, even as Nora tackled Pyrrha and began gushing about the match, Jaune lingered near the back.

He was smiling though. So hopefully everything would turn okay. After all, if this match proved nothing else, it was that they had plenty of firepower on their side. Oscar hadn't known exactly what to think of the reinforcements that had arrived. But between the show of force he'd just witnessed, and Ruby and Wendy's encouragement… they might just be able to do this.

Then he remembered the brief glimpses he'd caught of Salem's majestic and terrifying power.

They had their work cut out for them.

* * *

 **Heads up, my Spring Break has ended, and though I am on online courses due to the quarantine, my teachers have all decided to give research papers instead of finals. A fair choice given the dreadful circumstances we all find ourselves in during this plague, but it means that I may not be able to get a chapter out for the new few weeks. I will try my best otherwise, but if one doesn't appear, that is the reason. Thank you all for your understanding and patience in these dark times.**

 **An extra huge thank you to my patrons: Gregg Tracton, Annaya Chan, Keith Tracton, Nora Okonus, KefkaesqueXIII, Christian Howard, SanyaBane, Matthew Blevins, David Wayman, G-Unit91, and Primordial Paper.**

 **Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!**

 **Go Forth and Conquer!**


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